Anomalies
by Westward
Summary: At the age of fifteen, Alex Mercer was living a difficult life, but it was so much different from the one when he was the Blacklight Virus. Back then, in 1994, he had different battles to fight for his survival. Explore the events of how Alex Mercer became the sociopath before he became the Virus. Includes language and other themes.
1. Not A Morning Person

Alex's day started as early as four in the morning. He would wake up at the same time, his alarm clock blinking at him as if demanding that he'd reset it after last week's thunderstorm. The alarm clock read two thirty eight, but he knew that it was sometime around four. He grumbled, and pulled the cord out of its socket, which choked the clock of electricity. Alex was lying on his stomach in yesterday's clothes; he had been too tired last night to change out of them.

Alex grumbled again softly, and then rolled over to his back, the ancient mattress under him resisting any movement. It creaked so loudly that it hurt his ears when it was this early in the morning. His body was like his mattress, so sore and creaky. The aches and pains were almost too much to handle. Almost. Alex could ignore it. He would ignore it. If he couldn't then he wouldn't survive the new day.

A couple minutes passed, and Alex listened to the rain hit his window. The drops of water seemed to be in rhythm, like a clock, and Alex focused on each one. It was all he could do to keep him out of reality for as long as possible. The rain was like the last remnants of his dream world, where there were no troubles for him to worry about.

But of course, it didn't take long for _her_ to get home. And when she came, the safety of the rain left.

Alex could always hear the old rusty Toyota pull into the driveway; his room was just over the small garage. The headlights brightened Alex's room, and he pulled his arm up to his face to shield his sensitive eyes. The engine roared down to a soft growl as the driver put the Toyota in park. Alex froze when he heard a door open and someone step out. He could hear his heartbeat clearly in his ears, and he had trouble concentrating on what was happening outside.

He heard a faint intoxicated giggle.

"Bye, see you tomorrow." She said, her words slurred as she tried to be flirtatious. Alex frowned at the woman's voice. Of course she would come back hammered, just like a couple days ago. He wasn't surprised about it, just agitated.

"Take care, Jodie." The driver said, his words also slurred, but not as much as the woman's. He seemed to have rolled up his window or something similar, because the lights dimmed in Alex's room. Alex frowned again; the man was taking the car. That was never a good sign.

The woman let out a stifled laugh and watched the man leave before she walked up to the house. Alex felt the front door being forced open, in reality it wasn't even locked, and then clumsily slammed back closed. She was in the house, and obviously intoxicated. She spent a good ten minutes downstairs, doing god knows what, and Alex was fine for that. But it wasn't long before he heard heavy, uncoordinated footsteps climb the narrow staircase. She walked passed his room, Alex holding his breath as she did so, and entered the small bathroom in the end of the hallway.

Alex remained still in his bed and listened to her mumblings. He had no idea what state she was in and he decided to wait and see if she needed his help. Sometimes she needed it, and sometimes she was too stubborn or hung over to ask for it.

God he hated her. He hated her with a passion.

Alex closed his eyes, hoping to get another hour or so of sleep. He was just about to fall back into his carefree dreams when the sound of someone gagging filled his room. He tried to cover his ears to block out the sound, but the noise of vomiting up alcohol was hard to ignore, despite how common it was in this house. It seemed to go on forever, and Alex cringed at the sound, subconsciously curling up into a protected ball.

"Alex?" Finally, her voice called out for him after a hitch of her vomiting. The once bubbly voice outside had turned both literally and metaphorically acidic. Alex couldn't breathe; she was in one of her bad moods. "Damn, where the hell are you, boy?"

Alex didn't hesitate to pick himself up. He resisted the urge to groan as his sore body tried to support itself. He rubbed his head, sending his greasy black curls waving, and picked up his thick rimmed glasses from an old nightstand by his small bed. Before leaving the safety of his room, he cleaned his glasses with his shirt and placed them on his nose.

The hall lights were on, but they had dimmed with age. That was fine with Alex; his eyesight was so bad that he preferred the dark over bright lights. He grumbled softly for a second before trudging to the bathroom. The door was barely open, but Alex could already see her weak state. She was bending down over the disgusting toilet, holding her dyed red hair in one hand while propping herself up on the toilet seat.

"Alex!" She screamed again, her voice even more volatile.

"I'm right here, mom. " Alex muttered, his voice low. He wouldn't look at her; he couldn't stand the sight of her. She owned him, but he was the one in charge of taking care of her. He was only fifteen years old, but he felt like the most mature person in his household. He was her slave, and he hated it. "What do you want?"

"Get me," Jodie paused to spit the rest of her stomach's contents out, "my god damn pills, boy."

Alex didn't respond as he left his mother in the bathroom, where she continued to groan in pain. He headed downstairs, almost losing his footing on the way, and stubbed his toe on the last step. He swore, but then decided to ignore the pain as he headed to the kitchen. He turned the lights on, and looked at the kitchen. Last night's dishes were still in the sink; Alex had been too tired to do them last night. Now the remains of the food were starting to stink up the place.

Alex ignored the growing pile of dirty dishes and headed to the medical cupboard. He opened it and quickly tried to find the container of Alka Seltzer tablets. He found it and took out two tablets and then filled a small glass with tap water. Alex sighed ruefully and headed back upstairs.

Jodie was still in the bathroom, but had gotten up off of the floor and was starting to take off the enormous amount of makeup that was on her face. She was still a bit woozy, and she was dangerously leaning to the right. Jodie didn't notice that Alex was back and she jumped when he appeared at the doorway.

"Shit, don't do that." Jodie mumbled as she eyed her son. Alex didn't respond and he just handed her the glass of water. Jodie studied the glass, and then warily eyed her son. "These aren't my pills, Alex."

"You need to take these first." Alex said hesitantly, his voice breaking from puberty halfway through the sentence. He took a half step back, expecting the worst, like when she snaps at him. "I'll go back down and get your medication when you're ready."

Jodie sniffed and pulled her dyed red hair behind her ears. Her face looked completely hideous with all of the makeup on in her intoxicated state. She didn't look at all like Alex, for he had taken after his father, whoever that was. The only similarity that they shared was their ice blue eyes, but she could actually see with hers. She didn't deserve that privilege, though.

"I don't fucking need those, Alex." Jodie said as she shoved him back the glass of dissolving Alka Seltzer tablets. Her temper was starting to flare up, which was another rare similarity that they had. "Just get me my god damn pills for my god damn head before you regret it."

Alex stubbornly stood in place, determined not to budge. If she didn't take the Alka Seltzer tablets now, she'd be in a worse mood later in the day when she'd be hung over. And Jodie was more temperamental hung over than drunk, and for _a lot_ longer. No, he wouldn't move. It'd be safest for his sister this way, even if he took a small beating in the process.

"Well, why the fuck are you just standing there? Go get my pills." Jodie demanded, the smell of alcohol on her breath was unbearable, and Alex's nose wrinkled in detest. She raised an eyebrow as if to question his defiance. Her body tensed up as she noticed that neither one of them would cave in for the other.

"No, mom."

That answer resulted in a slap to the face. The sheer amount of force against it shocked Alex, and he stumbled back into the hallway's wall. His head started to ring, and his glasses fell down to the ground, and he hoped that they weren't broken. He couldn't see or hear, but he could tell that Jodie was advancing on him. He raised his arms up for protection, but he knew that nothing could protect him from the woman that gave birth to him.

Just to his left, the glass of water shattered against the wall. He gasped in surprise and tried to look around to see where the drunken woman was. She was right in front of him and she gave him another slap to the face. This time, one of Jodie's nails caught onto his skin and left a small gash just under his right eye. Already, he could feel it bleed slightly. It would stop soon, but cuts to the face were harder to hide from the outside world.

"What did you say, boy?" Jodie asked, her voice low and ominous.

Alex gritted his teeth, too determined for his own good. "I said no."

That gave him a short punch in the gut, and Alex lost his breath. He was weak and gangly, and he hadn't fully recovered from an earlier beating. Jodie's punch was enough to knock the wind out of Alex. The teenager bent over and clutched his sides, moaning in pain as he gasped for air. The world was still blurry for him, and if it wasn't for the pain in his sides, Alex would have thought that this was one of his disturbing nightmares.

Jodie wasn't finished with him. Even in her intoxicated state, she was able to grab and constrict one of Alex's wrists. It was his right wrist, and his dominant hand. She gripped at his wrist harder, crushing it almost to the point of breaking a couple important bones. Alex couldn't help it, and he wept out a cry of pain. Jodie seemed to gain confidence in his reaction and twisted his wrist under the pressure.

"Now, what are you going to do for Mommy?" Jodie growled. She kept her ice blue eyes on her son, and was content that she still remained in control over him, even if he towered over her. Jodie was a short woman, but what she lacked in height she made up for in temper. She was still the top of the food chain in this household.

" . . . I'm going to get your pills." Alex hitched as he tried to breath. He winced in pain, and he couldn't move from his spot; he was afraid that Jodie would snap his wrist.

Jodie let out a drunken chuckle. She finally loosened her grip on his wrist, and Alex quickly retracted it before she could do more damage. He started rubbing it, trying to soothe some of the pain, only to remember from past experience that it would hurt for a couple hours before declining to a dull throb. He bent down and searched for his glass. Alex found them and quickly placed them over his blue eyes. Now that Alex could see clearly, he looked up to see that Jodie was already retreating to her room.

"That's a good boy, Alex." Jodie muttered as she held her temples, already feeling the ill effects of the alcohol in her system. "I'll be in my room, waiting. You better come back with my fucking pills or you'll be covered in bruises for the rest of your life."

Alex didn't answer her, but rather just watched as she slammed the door behind her as she entered her bedroom. Alex remained where he was standing for a second before taking out his own anger at the wall behind him. With his good hand, he punched the wall, leaving a faint mark next to several others that were similar in appearance. He was left panting with anger, and he desperately tried to recollect himself.

"_Fuck her! Fuck that bitch!" _Alex thought, his anger continuing to boil up inside him. He started pulling at his greasy black hair, and that was only irritating him more. Alex had no idea how to control this anger, and could only think to let out a furious growl at the top of his lungs. He didn't care if Jodie heard it or not, let her hear it. Let her know how much he hated her.

Alex turned and stormed downstairs and back to the kitchen. Even now, the dirty kitchen didn't seem to calm his nerves. In his furious state, he saw the pill container, and he rashly cranked the top open and took four of the small blue pills out. He stared down at them, seeing if he had heat vision or something to destroy them. Instead, he came up with a different idea. _"I could kill her right now. I should do it, give her an overdose. That'll teach her a fuckin' lesson!"_

Alex got a new glass of water and stomped back upstairs, where his so called "mother" was waiting for him. He opened the door to her room, only to see that she had passed out on her unmade bed. The small, static filled TV was on, flickering on CNN. Alex was amazed that she had managed to turn it on before passing out, but he couldn't care for that now. He just stared at her vulnerable form. His hand clenched the glass hard, and he resisted the urge to smash it on the back of her head.

"_I can do it, too. It'll all be over in a couple seconds, like a useless Band-Aid."_

That one thought had been enough to make his decision. He threw the pills on the ground, listening to them roll over the dirty wooden floor. He walked over to the bed, positioning himself perfectly to get a good swing at Jodie. He chugged most of the water out of the glass and then tightened his grip on it. Alex raised the glass high and gave one last glare at the woman in control of his life.

Just as he started to bring the glass down, he heard the room's door squeak open. He froze in place, the glass just a foot above the woman's head. He closed his eyes, knowing who had opened the door.

"Alex?" A soft voice whispered as a small head peeked through the opening. Alex cringed, and loosened the grip of the glass slightly. She had caught him in the act; how would she respond to this? "Alex, what are you doing?"

Alex sighed and looked at his baby sister, Dana. She was still in the pink nightgown he had put her in earlier this night, reddish brown hair in loose pigtails. She clung onto her small stuffed teddy bear with one hand, and bit her nails on the other. It was one of her forming bad habits. Dana looked so young and innocent, and Alex had been working hard to keep it like that for almost seven years now. Almost seven years of pain for him.

Dana stepped further into their mother's room, but kept close to the light that was streaming in from the hallway. She looked at their mother's sleeping form, and then back to her brother, her eyes wide but hazy from tired curiosity.

"Nothing. I'm doing nothing, Dana." Alex said as he set the empty glass down on the closest nightstand. He crept closer to his sister as if not to scare her or anything. _"Shit, she almost saw me kill her. I can't do that to poor Dana." _Alex crouched down low to be at the same height as his sister, and he tried to put on a fake smile for her. "Let's get back to bed, kid."

Dana nodded, and yawned in approval. She reached out for Alex's hand, and he took her with his good one. Alex led her out, closing Jodie's door behind them, and took her into her own small room. He helped her climb back into bed and tucked her in. She yawned again and groggily gazed at her brother, smiling slightly.

"Did we wake you up, kiddo?" Alex whispered as he patted her on the head, smoothing out the top of her hair in the process. She nodded, her expression saddening a little bit. Dana had heard them fight before, as it was a normal occurrence, but it still terrified her. "Sorry, Dana. We'll try to be quieter next time for you."

Dana snuggled down into her bed and closed her eyes, sleep already trying to overtake her again. Alex stood over her, watching over her protectively. Once he thought that her breathing had evened out, signaling that she was asleep, he headed back to the hallway, where he would leave the young child in peace for the rest of the morning.

"Alex?" Dana's soft voice called out for her brother one last time. Alex paused and turned his head to see his sister watching him carefully with blue eyes that were identical to his and their mother's. "Please don't leave me."

Alex nodded. He closed the door and went back to her. He sat down at the edge of the bed, leaning against the wall for support. He looked at Dana one last time, giving her another fake smile. She looked content with his decision to stay with her for the rest of the night, and finally decided to slip back into unconsciousness. After a few minutes, Alex was positive that she was back in dreamland.

Alex decided that he should try to catch some last minute Zs too before the sun decided to rise. The lord knew he needed it, and Alex tried to make himself as comfortable as he could without waking Dana up a second time this night. Once in a semi-comfortable position, he took his glasses off and tucked them into his shirt. Alex heaved out a sigh and closed his eyes.

"_No, I won't kill that bitch. Not with Dana around. As much as I hate her guts, she's the only thing keeping Dana and me together."_ Alex thought, his mind becoming less coherent by the second. _"If I kill Jodie, then I can't protect Dana. She'll be taken away, like I was. I can't let that happen . . ."_

* * *

Yeah, I'm just experimenting here. I feel like I don't know Alex's personality well enough to write about it, so this story is pretty much just an exercise to help me get in the flow. Don't worry, I think this'll turn out to be a fairly decent sized fanfic, I just probably won't update unless needed to. I'm not that serious about it.

That is, unless someone out there likes this. Then I'll try to put in a lot of effort in this.


	2. Tony's Pizzeria

Two hours later, Alex woke up. He woke up with a start, realizing that he wasn't in his own bed. He looked around, remembering that Dana had requested him to sleep with her last night. He looked down at her. She was still sleeping, and would most likely remain that way for another hour or two. The light from mid morning was seeping into her room, and he could see the peacefulness on her face, and he couldn't help but feel a tad jealous of his sister.

Alex yawned and stood up, taking a good stretch while at it. He remembered that he had gotten in a fight with Jodie last night, and checked himself for any serious injuries. His right wrist was pretty bruised up, and it looked a little swollen, but he could maneuver it enough for it to be unnoticeable. Alex would just put some of his mother's cover up on it, and no one would be able to tell the difference from his good wrist.

He looked in Dana's small mirror hanging up on the wall and then frowned. The cut just under his eye would be harder to hide. Alex would say that a cat had scratched at him, but he had used that excuse one time to many, and people that knew him were already suspicious that he was being abused. As much as he wanted to get revenge on Jodie, that would cause more harm than help.

Alex didn't look to be hurt anywhere else, so he exited Dana's room, closing the door behind him silently, and went into his room. He went to his closet and pulled out a new shirt. He took the one he was wearing and threw it into the dirty hamper, remembering that he should do laundry at some point today. Alex put on his new shirt, an old T-shirt with a logo from some sporting even from a couple years ago. It would do.

He didn't change pants; he didn't have that many pair s of jeans to change into to begin with. And nobody noticed that he'd go a couple days without changing pants.

Alex left, content with his change of clothing, and headed down to the kitchen. He opened the small fridge and swore softly. They were low on groceries, and what they had in stock was starting to spoil. Alex groaned and grabbed an almost empty milk carton. They were running low on money, and he didn't know if he could afford to buy food for the week. They always had the rent money, but that was for _rent_, not for shopping

His stomach grumbled, and Alex forgot about his money problem. He opened the milk carton, smelling it to see if it was still good, and grabbed a clean bowl from the counters. He found a box of cereal and poured it into the bowl. With a spoon, Alex leaned against the kitchen counter and dug in like a slob.

"_I'm going to need to get another job."_ Alex thought as he ate._ "With the restaurant closing, we'll be out of money. I wonder if the deli store across town is hiring, and if they're willing in hiring me?"_

Alex looked at the kitchen's wall clock. It was just after seven. It would be a couple hours before anyone else would be up and moving around in the house, so Alex went to work. He went to the kitchen sink and started washing dishes. It was a long, dull task, and Alex had trouble keeping his thoughts from wandering.

He had almost killed his mother last night. He was so close to becoming a murderer. What had he been thinking? That would just send him to jail for life, making him no different from Jodie. That thought repulsed him.

Dish after dish, Alex finished washing them and then turned to dry them off with a clean rag. As soon as he was done with that, he put the dishes away. Alex studied his hands as he did so; they were wrinkly from the overexposure to water. He hated having pruned fingers. And so, he decided to wait to do laundry until they were back to normal. So, while they dried off, Alex returned his attention to the fridge.

Most of the things in the fridge were either empty or spoiled. Alex ended up dragging the trash can from under the sink over to the fridge and just dumping everything in it, save a few apples and a half-empty carton of eggs. Once that was over with, Alex took the trash outside and threw it into the bigger trash can. Garbage day wasn't until Wednesday, so the food would rot for a couple more days to come.

With that, Alex let out a sigh and drank a glass of water. He was heading down to the basement to start loading in a load of laundry when he heard a door open from upstairs. It must have been Dana; Jodie didn't usually wake up until past noon. And usually, she was too hung over to get out of bed. Alex returned to the first floor to see that Dana was at the small kitchen table, still in her pajamas.

The young girl had a bad case of the bed head, her pigtails all bunched up in knots and sticking at odd angles, but she didn't notice it. Dana sat in a chair; head on table as she tried to remain awake long enough to eat a decent breakfast. Dana saw Alex come up from the basement and a smile covered her face. She loved her brother more than anyone else she knew, and Alex could almost return the feelings.

"Morning, Dana. What'cha want for breakfast?" Alex asked as he gave her a faint smile. He headed to the almost empty fridge and took out the carton of eggs.

"Uh . . ." Dana muttered as she thought. After a couple seconds, she shrugged.

"Eggs it is, then." Alex said, his voice breaking as he spoke. God, he hated puberty. He turned the gas stove on. "It'll be ready in five."

He got out a frying pan and started cooking the six year old some eggs. He wasn't a good cook, despite being the one who provided the food for a couple years now. Alex just didn't have the talent to wield a spatula or a frying pan with ease. He secretly hoped that Dana could when she was older, so then she could cook her own damn food.

About ten minutes later, Dana was stuffing hot scrambled eggs down her throat. Apparently, she was very hungry. Alex sat down with her and watched her eat. He was still full from his bowl of cereal, and he contented himself with just watching Dana. She finished after a while, and Alex took her plate and washed it off.

As he put the dish in the cupboard, Dana jumped out of the chair and headed to the living room. He heard her turn on the small television they had and flip to early Saturday cartoons. He heard what was either Ren and Stimpy or Rocko's Modern Life and he ended up rolling his eyes. Dana loved both of those shows too much for her own good.

With Dana occupied for a couple hours, Alex headed back downstairs to do some laundry. About half an hour later, Alex came up with a clean load and headed into the living room to sort out their clothes. Dana joined him, as this was one of her chores to help around the house, and the two watched her favorite cartoons. As an episode of Ren and Stimpy ended, they had finished sorting through laundry. Dana took her clothes up to her room, and Alex took his.

Alex finally decided that he had done enough house work for the morning and headed outside in the late summer morning. The cicadas buzzed in the warm summer heat and Alex could already feel himself start to sweat. Dana appeared by the door, still in her pajamas, and she looked curious of where her brother was going. She didn't like to be left alone with their mother, passed out or not.

"Bye, Dana, I'm going out for a couple hours. I'll try to be back before mom wakes up." Alex stated as he pulled out his rusty bike from the garage. She nodded and disappeared back to the living room to watch more cartoons. "I promise, kiddo."

* * *

Alex had gone through the whole neighborhood searching for another job after he lost his last one. The Mercer's lived on the edge of White Plains, which was just an hour away from New York City. They lived on the poor side of the city, and life was more than a little rough for the three of them, especially when Jodie used all of their money from her Welfare checks to buy alcohol. So, Alex had been forced to be the provider, and what money he did manage to scrounge up was never enough.

He rode his bike down to the other side of his neighborhood, where it was a bit friendlier. The occasional car passed him, giving him a dirty look, and in return Alex would flip them the finger. He probably shouldn't do it, but years of almost being run over was enough to get him pissed off at anyone behind the wheel of a car.

It didn't take him long to reach his first stop, a deli that was a couple minutes away from his house. He chained his bike down by a telephone pole and tried to make himself look descent enough in his shabby clothes to look hirable. But when he asked if they were hiring, the manager barked at him to get out. The manager called him white trash, and Alex stormed out, fuming.

His next stop and the one after that were as successful as the first one. No one wanted him associated with their business and promptly asked him to leave. Apparently, he had gained a reputation at his last job, and he had been black-listed in this neighborhood. Alex thought back to see if he had done something wrong to put himself in such a difficult position. When the memories came back, he couldn't help but snicker.

Hell, it was worth it. Even if he couldn't find a job now because of it.

Alex decided to head out towards a more busy part of White Plains, where other businesses waited for him. It was about a half an hour ride from his house to this part of White Plains, but hopefully it would be worth it in the end.

He stopped at a pizzeria that looked promising. It looked like it was popular in this part of the neighborhood, and that meant that there would be more people here to pay or tip. Alex chained his bike up again and took in a deep breath. How many more places would he have to search for before finding a decent job?

Alex entered the pizzeria, the door chiming as he opened it. The place looked deserted at this early in the morning, and Alex looked at a nearby clock to see that it was almost ten; the store had only been open for about half an hour. He took his glasses off, cleaned them, and then put them back on his head. He walked up to the counter and waited for someone to appear from behind the back.

Minutes passed, and Alex let out an impatient cough to get someone's attention.

Finally, someone appeared. It was a middle aged man, his brown hair graying at the edges, and he had a mustache that rivaled Mario's. He had a large nose too, and he eyed his new customer with hazel eyes as if he was judging him.

"I'm sorry sir, but the ovens are just warming up. Come back in half an hour." The man said in a gruff voice as he waved Alex away. He looked bored and uninterested in the teenager, and that slightly pissed off Alex. "Then I'll be able to take your order."

"I don't want to buy a damn pizza." Alex stated, giving the man a fierce stare. His voice was cold and demanding, not fitting in with his youthful appearance. "I need a job. Where's the man in charge here?"

The man frowned and put a hand on the counter by the register. He gave Alex a questionable glance; he had already decided that he didn't like the teenager, and he could feel that the feeling was mutual. The man didn't like his attitude, and he would rather do without Alex. But he had come at a good time, his delivery man just quit last night and left him in a bad position.

"You're talking to him. This is Tony's Pizzeria, my name is Tony. But I'm sorry to tell you, we are not hiring at this time. We have enough staff to have this place running in tip-top shape. Come back in a couple months and there just may be an opening." The man said, lying, and turned to head back to the back of his restaurant.

"That's a lie." Alex stated just as Tony was about to leave his field of view. _"Does he think I'm an idiot or something? He's pretty stupid if he thought he could pull that over me."_ Alex forced a fist down onto the counter to make sure the man still paid attention to him. Alex didn't mind being a bit forceful, even if Tony had the power to call the cops on him. "I can see it in your eyes. You're straight up bluffing."

Tony stopped and gavea disgusted look at Alex. He could tell by his clothes that the man lived in poverty, and he probably needed this job badly. But he didn't want anyone, especially Alex, to give his store a bad reputation. Tony's was a popular restaurant in the area, and he made good money. Tony didn't know if the teenager would change that, and he didn't want to take the risk.

"Yes, I am, but we will do fine. Now run along." Tony said, addressing Alex as if he was a stray cat. He even did the hand motion to tell him to scat like he was a feral animal. Alex frowned; he didn't like being treated like an animal. "Go somewhere else. Try the pizza shop a couple blocks away from here. You might be able to land a job before we push them out of business."

"No. I need a job, and I want one _here_." Alex said, his voice becoming a soft growl. He was so close, he just had to push Tony a bit more, and even if that meant making Tony hate the very sight of him. He didn't care, he just needed the money. He decided to try a different tactic. A more sensible, manipulative tactic. "Please, I have a younger sister at home that's depending on me."

Tony thought for a second before letting out a deep sigh. He glared at Alex, but the teenager didn't step down, and kept his own glare plastered on his face. Tony knew that he wouldn't be able to rid himself of this menace and finally decided to cave in.

"Fine, you may work here." Tony muttered, scowling at Alex. This made Alex breathe a breath of relief, but he noticed that Tony was not finished with him. "But one false move and I'll fire your ass before you even know it."

"Got it." Alex said, nodding his head and waited for Tony to continue.

"Listen and listen carefully now, because I will not repeat what I am about to say." Tony continued in an agitated voice. "The only hours I can give you are from three to eight on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I'll tell you on Friday if I'll have you working on the Saturday shift. I'll start you on minimum wage, but I'll give you a bonus for every successful delivery that you make. That'll be enough to satisfy you, yes?"

"Delivery?" Alex asked, dumbfounded. He did not like the sound of that.

Tony chuckled, a bit sinisterly. "Yes, you are the new delivery guy. Fortunate for you, yes?"

"But I can't drive. I'm not old enough to." Alex said, pointing out the flaw in Tony's plan.

"Then make sure that you're a fast bike rider. We have a twenty minute or free policy here, and it'll be coming out of your paycheck if you don't deliver on time." Tony informed. The man paused for a second, thinking, before looking at Alex straight in the eye. "Are you attending the high school near here?"

Alex nodded, and Tony frowned.

"Then when school begins in a next week, make sure your grades stay high. If they get too low, I'll have to lay you off. Don't give me that look, boy, I am serious. My younger brother works there and many students that attend your school also have a part-time job here. They all have the same problem, so make sure you don't slack off."

Alex said nothing and turned around. He had gotten a job, which was all that he wanted from here. He would have cared less about his grades, he already knew that he wasn't going anywhere in his life, but now he'd actually have to work at school. Alex frowned again, he didn't like school. If it was up to him, he'd just quit school and find a real job to support his sister. But he couldn't do that.

"And before you leave," Tony said, making the teenager pause halfway through the door, "tell me your name, son."

"Alex. Alex Mercer."

* * *

Ta da! Here you go. I finished this up last night and thought I'd post it before I forgot about it. Here you go, enjoy, have happy feelings while reading this, I don't know. I'll start writing the next chapter when I actually get time to, so probably not for a while.


	3. Thunderstorm

It was Wednesday, and Alex had just completed his second day of delivering pizzas. Turns out Tony's Pizzeria was more popular than he had originally thought. Usually, according to Tony, delivery customers ranged from just a couple blocks away to a couple miles. And after his first long range delivery, Alex soon realized what kind of trouble he had put himself in. His legs had felt like they were on fire when he returned from his delivery, and all he wanted to do was sit down in a chair and throw up his guts.

However, Tony was all too quick to give him four more boxes of pizza. And his time was already ticking. So he had to rush if he wanted to keep his job. So he jumped on his bike and rode down the streets. In the heavy rain. In the cold. And in the dark. With nothing but a windbreaker on.

And Alex was grateful when eight o'clock finally rolled by. He made his last delivery and collected his paycheck. As soon as he counted his dough, Alex climbed back onto his bike, trying to keep his windbreaker on through the blast of wind and rain. He didn't hesitate to start peddling home, hoping to get back in less than twenty minutes.

When he finally pulled into the garage, he was soaked to the bone, shivering from the cold, and utterly miserable. Alex was not in a good mood, and he felt like he would snap at whoever dared to speak to him, no matter if it was her sister or not. Without caring, Alex threw his bike down on the ground and stormed inside, slamming the door behind him.

He faintly saw Dana sitting at the kitchen table, eating a ham sandwich that he had made for before he left for work hours ago. She saw him storm by, and she knew to hold her tongue. Alex headed upstairs, feeling cold and dirty. He entered the bathroom and quickly took a short hot shower. Far off in the distance, he heard the rumbles of yonder thunder, but he ignored them.

"_I don't care if I fry, I'm gonna take a damn shower if it's safe to or not."_ Alex thought as he cursed the thunder.

A few minutes later, Alex turned off the water and grabbed a somewhat clean towel. He dried himself off and threw his soaking wet clothes into a laundry hamper. Alex headed to his room and angrily changed into a T-shirt and boxers, his typical form of pajamas. Now clean and dry, all that was left was his bad mood.

The only way to let out his anger was to sit around and brood for a while. Alex didn't like to brood, so he decided to head downstairs and pop a VHS tape and watch a movie. Alex went downstairs and turned the TV on, he searched through the movies that they owned and picked Predator 2. Alex shoved the VHS tape in the player and flopped down on the musty old couch.

Alex impatiently waited for the movie to start, only to realize how exhausted he was from pedaling in the pouring rain. He felt like he couldn't hold his head up correctly, and even before the opening credits were rolling, he found himself dozing off. Alex jerked himself awake, actually wanting to watch one of his favorite horror movies.

"_Good fucking thing Jodie's not here. She'd make me turn it off before she even knew what I was watching."_ Alex thought, still glum.

Alex propped himself up and made sure to keep his eyes glued onto the small screen. Every once in a while, there would be a flash of lightning, but Alex didn't move to shut off the television. Let the television fry, he would just replace it with the one in Jodie's room. He doubted that the woman would notice, as she was only at home either completely drunk or so hung over that she couldn't even open her eyes without everything hurting.

About half an hour into the movie, Alex finally noticed Dana standing by the living room's entranceway, watching the movie intently, but too unnerved by her brother to get a better view of it. She noticed that Alex was watching her, and she slowly backed away out of sight, as if she was now out of his mind.

"Dana, come on in here." Alex said, trying to make his voice encouraging. Her head popped out of the entranceway, and he motioned for her to sit next to him. A loud crack of thunder startled Dana, and she rushed into her brother's open arms. He took Dana into a hug and placed her right next to him. "Have you ever seen this?"

Dana shook her head slowly, keeping her eyes on her older brother. "No, you always tell me to go to bed when you watch your movies."

"Well, now that you're almost seven, I think you're ready to meet Mr. Predator here." Alex said as he put his right arm around the small girl, taking her into half an embrace. Dana liked the affection and snuggled in closer to her brother. The two enjoyed the contact for a second, and then Alex continued. "You want me to explain the plot for you?"

"Yeah," Dana muttered as she kept her eyes on the television screen.

So, Alex went into great depth about the plot. Occasionally he would explain what was going on right now. Dana would ask questions, and Alex wouldn't hesitate to answer them. He was missing out most on most of the movie, but at least his sister was doing what he hoped the movie would do: take his mind off of his problems. Plus, it was more bonding time.

Dana didn't look like she was scared of the movie. If anything, she was enjoying it as much as he had when he first saw Predator 2. He hadn't let her watch any horror movies because he didn't want her to be too afraid when she went to bed. But now, he was sort of excited at the idea of sharing some of his other favorites later on before school started.

"Maybe tomorrow we can watch Body Snatcher." Alex stated, his voice cracking from puberty again.

"Ooh, can we Alex?" Dana asked enthusiastically, her blue eyes lit up with excitement.

There was a louder crack of thunder, and Dana practically jumped off of the couch. Alex couldn't help but muster a stiff laugh; he had forgotten that she was afraid of thunderstorms. He grabbed her hand and led her back to the couch. She was still a little bit jumpy, and her eyes that were once lit up with happiness now were filled with fear.

"It's alright, Dana. I'm here with you." Alex said as he pulled her into a bear hug. Powerful surges of rain hit the windows, and the two tried to ignore the loud noise. She clung to him, and they waited for the rain to lighten up, the thunder along with it. Minutes passed, and Dana finally calmed down. "Now, how about some popcorn?"

Alex didn't wait for her to answer; he already knew that she wanted some. He got up, leaving her on the couch. The movie was almost over, but that didn't mean that he'd just pop in another one. Hell, the two of them deserved to stay up late at least once in a while. And with Jodie gone to drink her woes away, they could stay up for several more hours.

Alex went to the pantry and took out a bag of microwavable popcorn and quickly placed it in the ancient microwave. He pressed a button and then stood by a window and watched as the glass was assaulted with rain. God, it looked awful out. He was glad that it hadn't been like that when he was delivering pizzas; it had been pretty bad as it was.

"I think we can stay up to watch another movie, don't you think Dana?" Alex said as the popcorn started to continuously pop. Once it stopped, he turned off the microwave and put the steaming popcorn into a large bowl. "As long as the thunder isn't as bad, I can show you my all-time favorite—"

Alex was interrupted by a blinding flash of white, and then the atrocious boom of thunder immediately afterwards. It was so loud that Alex dropped the bowl of popcorn and tried to cover his ears. Through the racket, he heard Dana scream her heart out. She sounded like she was being brutally murdered, and that sent shivers down Alex's spine. Dana continued to scream as a loud cracking filled the air. Alex could actually feel the electric current around him, and all the lights in the house all shut off simultaneously. There was a loud thump outside, and the house trembled for a few seconds before settling down.

Suddenly, the whole house became too still. Alex couldn't see or hear anything.

"Dana?" Alex forced himself to break the silence. He received no answer, and that made him unnaturally nervous. He waited for a second to pass before calling out for his little sister again. "Dana?"

Alex walked into the living room, hoping to see her figure burrowing deep into the couch's cushions. She was not on the couch. She was not in the living room anymore. Alex started to panic, and he ran around the first floor, looking for a scared Dana.

"Dana?" Alex started shouting now.

He headed to the garage, thinking that maybe she went in there to hide from the thunder. As he opened the door to the garage, he saw that the front door was swinging wide open, and his heart sank. She must have run out on him. And in this kind of weather, she was most likely going to run into road and get hit by an unsuspecting car.

Alex wouldn't let that happen.

He sprinted out of the house, right into the hurricane like storm. In an instant, he was almost knocked down by the winds, and he had trouble keeping his footing. He was impaled by an onslaught of rain and wind, and he swore out loud. Each drop of rain felt like a needle stabbing at him. He couldn't see; his glasses were speckled with so much water that he was completely blind. Alex was stumbling around, and he was wondering if this was how Jodie felt when she was completely drunk.

Alex would never find his sister in this kind of weather, but he would have to try.

"Dana, where are you?" Alex shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth. He waited for an answer before battling the wind and rain to gain some distance from the house. Alex headed towards the road, wondering if she was there, freezing in this weather. "Dana?"

The storm was still going on around him, and each time he caught a flash of lightning, he tried to duck. The thunder was deafening, but after a couple minutes of stumbling around the neighborhood, Alex noticed that it was softening with time. Soon, all that was left was a continuous downpour, soaking Alex to the bone.

"Dana?"

Alex went around the whole neighborhood, calling for his sister. He didn't hear Dana's cries for help, but a couple of the neighbors grew curious of his yelling and peeked out of their windows to see him searching in the dreadful weather. Once they realized it was Alex, they lost their interest and returned to doing who knows what.

Alex decided to go searching off in the nearby park, where he and Dana liked to go sometimes if it was nice out. He trudged through the rain, but stopped when he noticed that something was blocking the path in front of him. He studied it, and then Alex realized that it was a burnt tree.

"_This is what the lightning must've struck." _Alex thought. He looked back to see how far he was from his house, and noticed that the tree had been in their back yard. _"Damn, that was too close for comfort."_

As the teenager continued his search, his panic was replaced with frustration. She was nowhere around. Dana was probably long gone, and he wasn't helping himself by staying out in the storm. Alex was already starting to shiver, and he wondered if he could get hypothermia from staying out in the rain too long.

Finally, the rain started to lighten up, and Alex could see further than a foot in front of his face. He was cold and tired. All he wanted to was to sit down on a nearby bench and sleep. But the thought of his sister out in the night kept him going. He jogged down the streets, keeping an eye out for a small human shape hiding somewhere. Alex found it difficult to breathe while he was both panting and shivering, and he didn't know that was possible.

"This is getting me nowhere." Alex muttered as he bended over, putting his palms on his knees. "Where the hell are you, Dana?"

With that, Alex forced himself to stop. He didn't have the stamina to continue this madness. He must have spent at least half an hour running around like a complete idiot. Dana was nowhere to be found. Alex felt awful; his sister depended on him and he had given up. As he returned home, trying to warm himself, he couldn't help but think that Dana was lying dead in a ditch somewhere.

"_Get a fuckin' hold of yourself, Alex; it's not really that bad." _But it was.

Alex trudged into the house, closing the garage door behind him. He was more drenched than when he was delivering pizzas, and even more exhausted. He moved like a zombie upstairs, dragging his feet one after the other without thinking. As Alex passes Dana's room, he couldn't help but peek in, hoping that she was somehow in her bed, already fast asleep. Alex wasn't surprised to see that Dana's bedroom was empty, and he let out a depressed sigh.

Alex headed to his room, shutting the door behind him softly. It had been a long day, and it had ended horribly. Alex didn't know if he would be able to sleep, but his body screamed at him to collapse. Without changing into a new pair of dry clothes, Alex flopped onto his bed and dragged his sheet over him.

He didn't usually cry, he thought he had forgotten how to when his beatings from Jodie became the norm. Even now, Alex couldn't feel tears rolling down his eyes. He didn't want to show any weakness, even now when he lost Dana.

"Sorry." Alex muttered as unhealthy sleep tried to overtake him.

Alex was almost under it when he heard something crawling around under his bed. His eyes shot open, and quickly grabbed his glasses off of the nightstand. He bent over the side of his bed and looked down into the darkness. He could see dust bunnies, and old shoebox, and . . . his little sister staring at him with wide, terrified eyes.

"Dana!" Alex exclaimed as his sister made her way out from under his bed. She was covered in dust, and was coughing up a fit. He didn't care that she was covered in dust and disgusting, he just took her into a big hug and held her in his arms for what felt like forever. Finally, he realized that she was here, _safe._ And with that, his temper overtook him. "Don't ever fucking scare me like that again, got it, kid."

Alex usually never swore in front of his sister, but he was too angry and relieved to care about his sister's innocence at the moment. Dana nodded her head fiercely. She had just ran into his room to hide from the thunderstorm, she had no idea how much she had scared him until now.

"You got to promise, Dana. Don't ever scare me like that again." Alex said as he kept his sister close. "I don't know what I would've . . . just promise."

After a second of looking closely at her brother, Dana nodded.

"I promise." Dana softly whispered.


	4. Sick

It turned out spending hours in the pouring rain was not a healthy decision. Alex had woken up, right at his usual time, only find that he couldn't think straight and that his throat felt like it was on fire. He tried to get up, but with his head so clogged up he became lightheaded and flopped back down again. He felt like death, no, it was worse than death. He felt like shit. Alex had no ambition to get up out of bed at all that early in the morning.

But Jodie never cared about how he was feeling. So he had to resume his duties of taking care of the woman in his weak state.

For the past few days, Alex had been doing his usual routines around the house, even going to work and delivering pizzas, while feeling the worst he ever had in his entire life. When he wasn't out working, he was on the couch either moaning in pain or in a deep, sick sleep. He tried to avoid Jodie when she was home, as she didn't notice or care that he felt like death and ordered him around anyways.

But thankfully, when Saturday came rolling by, Jodie had taken their rusty old Toyota and said that she wouldn't be home until Tuesday. And that was fine with Alex. That would give him whole two days to recuperate before school started up again. Alex groaned, the thought of school repulsed him.

Alex hated school. It was just another form of torture for him. Alex had decided years ago that nothing was as useless as school. The hours that he spent learning worthless facts were hours that he could have spent earning money and looking after his sister. Not one subject had caught his interest to prove him otherwise yet, and he was convinced that there wouldn't be.

It was almost noon on Saturday, and Alex had already slept through most of the morning. When he woke up, he found himself on the couch, covered in a blanket and his head still feeling like shit. He searched for a box of tissues and then blew most of the contents out of his nose. His headache grew worse, and Alex decided he could live with a runny nose.

The TV was on, and CNN was talking about it being the twenty-fifth anniversary of Woodstock. Alex didn't really care about hippies. He thought that they were all useless pot-heads. Alex grabbed the remote and turned the channel. On Fox News, President Bill Clinton was giving what seemed to be an important speech. Alex couldn't help but laugh even in his miserable state; politics was just another name for bullshit, and he couldn't care less about it.

"Do you need anything Alex?" Dana asked her brother from in the kitchen. She had made it her unofficial job to wait on him while he was sick until he regained back all of his health. He felt touched, but told her that he would be able to take care of himself. "I can make you some soup like you showed me?"

"M'fine, Dana." Alex muttered as he rolled over on his stomach, which required most of the energy that he had. "Go do whatever you're doing."

". . . Okay." Dana muttered, sounding disappointed.

Alex shut off the TV and closed his eyes to rest for a second. Before he knew it, he was out cold. Alex slept for a couple more hours, and it wasn't a very comfortable kind of sleep. When he woke up again, his body was sore and stiff, and he was almost positive that he felt worse than before. Alex groaned and forced himself up. He looked at a nearby clock to see that it was now around three, and that he should be starving by now.

With another groan, Alex forced himself up, keeping a blanket wrapped around him like a Mummy. Alex trudged into the kitchen, a good layer of rheum around his eyes. He wiped it away as he opened the fridge and took out a microwavable cup of mashed potatoes. Alex added water to the cup and sealed it up. Alex placed the cup of mashed potatoes in the microwave and sat down at the kitchen table to wait for it.

He still felt like shit.

The timer went off and Alex retrieved his food. He picked up a fork and began shoving the tasteless, hot food in his mouth. It wasn't the best meal in the world, but it was the only thing his volatile body could stomach at this point. He ate in silence for a few minutes before noticing that Dana wasn't around.

"Hey, Dana, where are you?" Alex asked, loud enough for her to hear if she was upstairs. A second passed, and Alex called out for her a second time. "Dana?"

"I'm upstairs, taking a bath!" Dana shouted.

"Oh . . . okay. Have fun." Alex said and returned to his stale meal. He finished his meal and threw it away. He grabbed a glass and then filled it with tap water. His throat was so parched, it felt like sandpaper. Alex drank the whole thing and then returned back to the couch, where he almost fell back asleep instantly. "Anything happened when I was out?"

Alex heard the door to the bathroom upstairs open.

"A man called and asked for Mommy. I told him that she wasn't here. He said that it was important for her to call back." Dana said as she came downstairs in a clean pair of clothes. Her hair was still wet, and she was trying to get all the water out. She sat next to Alex and watched him try to get into a sitting position. "He said it was _really_ important."

Alex raised an eyebrow, and then went into a coughing fit. He felt like he was going to hack up one of his lungs. Dana didn't like the sound of his coughing and scooted a couple inches away from her brother, keeping a wary eye on him.

"Did he give you a name? A number?" Alex asked, growing worried. People don't usually call unless Jodie missed an appointment with her probation officer. Or worse.

Dana shrugged. "He said his name was Mr. Conway. His number is by the phone. He told me to tell Mommy to call him as soon as she came back home."

That didn't sound good.

Alex stood up and made his way over to the telephone. He searched for the number that Dana had written down and found it on a post-it-note by the large yellow phonebook. He grabbed the note and the phone, punching the buttons accordingly while trying to read Dana's crappy handwriting. Once he was sure that he had gotten the correct phone number. Alex placed the corded phone to his ear.

Finally, after a couple seconds, a man picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hi, is the Mr. Conway? This is Alex Mercer." Alex said, trying to sound as healthy and pleasant as he could. He still had no idea of what this strange man had wanted Jodie for. He could have been an ex-boyfriend for all that he knew, but he didn't want to assume in this case. "My sister told me that you called earlier asking for our mother."

"Oh, yes, you must be Judith's eldest child." The man, Mr. Conway, said with a hint of surprise in his voice. He stopped to think before continuing. "I instructed your sister to tell Judith to call us when she's back in town. Is she back already?"

Alex inwardly swore. This man sounded official, and that wasn't a good sign.

"No, she's on a business trip for the rest of the weekend and Monday. She'll be back on Tuesday." Alex lied through his teeth seamlessly. He was a good liar, and most people didn't even notice half of the crap he said out when working or at school was fake. "Can you tell me what you want with my . . . my mother?"

"Well, Alex, I'm with the CPS, the—"

"The Child Protection Service, I know the acronym." Alex stated, his once fake cheery tone of voice now completely gone. His usual grumble had returned. "What do you want with my mom?"

Alex could tell that this Mr. Conway was taken aback by his hostile voice and how blunt he had spoken with it. Obviously, most of the people that this Conway guy talked to didn't have his kind of temper. It took the man a couple seconds to recollect himself. Alex waited impatiently for the man to answer him, fed up with any kind of officials or social workers like him.

"Well, a neighbor of yours tipped us off that your household was not the happiest place in the world." Mr. Conway hesitantly said, his voice a little off. "And that's putting it nicely."

"Then stop sugar coating it and tell me why the hell you care." Alex ordered, sounding much more intimidating than he actually was. If he didn't tell the man his name, Alex was sure that he could have passed for a man in his twenties. He was thanking whoever was up there watching that his voice hadn't cracked, or he would have been embarrassed. "Now."

"Our office has gotten a couple calls these past few weeks about your mother abusing you and your sister. Also, we have reports of having her coming home at late hours almost every night drunk." Mr. Conway stated. "Key witnesses have allowed us to use their statements if the problems in your household are fit for court."

"Really?" Alex asked as he searched for a notepad and a pen. He found a pen and bit the cap off, holding it in his teeth and ready to write down the information he wanted to know. He coughed for a second before continuing. "Who are these so called _key witnesses_ that you speak of?"

"I'm afraid that I can't disclose that information. It's confidential, Alex." Mr. Conway said, regaining his confidence.

Alex groaned and threw the notepad down on the counter. He spit the pen cap out and then rubbed his head to soothe his growing headache. He saw Dana peeking around the corner and motioned for her to get back in the other room. Alex didn't want her to hear this.

"Fine, then what _can _you tell me?" Alex demanded. There just had to be something that the man could give him.

The man sighed heavily, and Alex could hear a couple papers ruffling in the background. Mr. Conway must have been at his office or something. After a couple minutes, Alex heard the man typing away at what must have been a computer. This guy's agency must have been heavily funded; Alex had only seen one computer in his life and this guy had one.

"Alex, are you still here with me?" Mr. Conway asked, sounding stressed. Alex grunted a response, and the man continued. "We set up an appointment where a colleague and I will come and inspect the situation at your household. We will evaluate and see if it's better to take you and yours sister into foster care."

Alex's heart stopped beating for a second.

"_No, I can't let them do that."_ Alex thought. He knew it was better for both him and his sister if they were taken from Jodie. But he wouldn't let someone take his sister away from _him_. They would split them up into different households, more like send him away to military school or something and put Dana somewhere on the other side of the country. He was selfish, and he knew it. _"Not even over my dead body."_

"When's the appointment?" Alex asked, his voice now a little bit shaky with fear. How long? How long did he have with his sister? Out of the corner of his glasses, he could see his left hand trembling violently.

"It's on the 22nd, which is in about two weeks." Mr. Conway stated. "Is that fine with you, Alexander?"

The man didn't receive an answer. Alex slammed the corded telephone back onto the receiver as soon as he had the information he wanted. Alex stormed back into the living room, where he saw Dana sitting on the couch. He had no doubt that she had listened to the whole conversation, but she had only heard half of it. How much did she know?

From the depressed look on her face, Alex could tell that she knew.

Alex sat down on the couch. He felt worse than ever, but now it wasn't because of his sickness. They had evaded agencies like the CPS for years. There had been a couple times where they had cut it close, but that was when Jodie was a bit more sober. But her drinking had gotten heavier these past few months, and Alex didn't know if he could pull his mother together for a couple weeks.

Alex clenched his hands into fists. He had to make his mother sober up, even if that meant more beatings.

He would go to great lengths, and he knew it. Once Alex set his mind to something, he'd do anything to succeed. And now, Alex was determined to fool Mr. Conway and his damn agency.

He needed to make them believe that everything was fine in their household. And by goddamn, he was going to do it.

"Alex?" Dana squeaked out, sounding as frightened as he felt.

The teenager looked at his younger sister, and she saw the fierce determination in his eyes. The friendly blue eyes she had always seen was replaced with an ice cold ones that were filled with hatred. Deep down, Dana knew that he wasn't angry at her, but still, the thought of her brother angry made her upset.

Alex didn't answer her. He just stood up, already formulating a plan, and went into the kitchen. He went into the panty and flipped the light switch on. The light revealed at least two shelves with some form of alcohol, and he frowned in disgust.

Without thinking, Alex grabbed as much booze as he could and threw it on the ground. The first bottle to hit the ground cracked, startling Dana. She let out a small yelp and returned to the safety of the living room. After that, bottles upon bottles shattered as they hit the tiled floor.

The sound of destruction filled the air, and Alex couldn't control himself as he took out all of his anger from his mom out on the thing that she only cared about. For as long as Alex knew Jodie, her only thought process was about the next round of drinks. She didn't care for her children. She actually called them mistakes every once in a while when she was sober. And while Alex hated his mother, that still hurt something in him.

"_If you actually cared about us, we wouldn't be in this situation!"_ He kept on throwing the bottles of alcohol onto the kitchen floor until the pantry was empty of the stuff. Alex paused and took in a deep breath; he had gotten winded through that fiasco.

Alex looked at the mess he made, and he was unusually impressed. It looked like someone had committed a murder in their kitchen; there was enough glass to severely cut himself or Dana. That had been a lot of anger stored up in him, and he was shocked that he hadn't snapped beforehand.

With a sigh, Alex found a mop and started cleaning up his mess. It took about an hour to make sure that everything had been cleaned up, and Alex was starting to feel the effects of his sickness. He returned to the living room, where Dana had been the whole time, listening to the massive destruction on the other side of the wall.

"Dana?" Alex called out, getting his younger sister's attention. ". . . Something went wrong, and I'm going to need your help. Can you do that for me?"

Dana nodded her head as she avoided Alex's still furious stare. He was not right in his mind at the moment, and she didn't want to set him off again. Even now, he was still trembling.

"I need you to go to bed. Now." Alex ordered. "I know it's still early, but . . . but I think it's safer for you to get away from me for the rest of the day."

* * *

Questions? Comments? Psychotic thoughts? Tell me your opinions if you'd like.


	5. Hell

It was Monday, and Alex was already prepared. He woke up at the same time, but he was relieved to find that Jodie wasn't back at home yet. And also to his relief, all remnants of his sickness had disappeared over the night. He took the extra free hours to clean up the house. He had spent most of the weekend ridding the place with everything that belonged to Jodie. That included all of the alcohol, which he had destroyed most of earlier her cigarettes, and even what looked like powdered drugs.

"_Of course."_ Alex thought as he threw the bag of white powder into the garbage. _"Only Jodie would be stupid enough to have fucking cocaine in the house while she's still on probation."_

As soon as he had thrown out all of the things that would freak the CPS out, Alex had started to clean up the house. Even with all of the work that the teenager did regularly, their house was still a wreck. They were, in every way imaginable, living in the slums. And Alex was positive that their house was the slummiest, if that even was a real word.

Just as his sister was starting to wake up, Alex had found a couple old paint cans in the garage. He'd have to paint the house when he returned home from school, when he had the most time. The teenager groaned at the thought, but then remembered that painting the house was only a small portion of the work he'd have to do to fool the CPS.

Dana came down the stairs, and Alex started to fix her breakfast. He decided to treat her this morning, as it was her second year of school and she was clearly freaking out. Today, he got out the bacon and cooked it up. Bacon was her favorite, and they rarely had it due to how expensive it was to buy. So, when Dana's stomach was threatening to take over her, Alex slid a plate of fried eggs and three crispy pieces of bacon to her.

"Wow, thanks Alex!" Dana cried out happily before taking a huge bite out of a strip of bacon. She moaned with pleasure from the taste of the meat.

"Anytime, kiddo" Alex said as he watched the girl enjoy her breakfast.

After Dana completed her breakfast, the girl went upstairs to get dressed for school. Alex watched her go up and then went to grab her old backpack that had been stored in the basement during the summer, along with his own. Dana's backpack was in reality his old backpack when he was eleven, but it eventually grew too small for him and was handed down to Dana when she first started school. It was a hotrod red in color and it had a racecar cartoon on it. Dana wasn't much for racecars, but when they didn't have enough money to buy a new pink backpack with a princess on it, she had learned to cope.

Once upstairs, Alex put a notebook and a couple pencils in the backpack. He quickly made his sister and himself two identical lunches, which consisted of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a bottle of water, and an apple. He packed their lunches and then headed upstairs to take a quick shower and get ready. Without caring what he wore, Alex threw on an old dirty pair of jeans and a hoodie over a T-shirt.

Fifteen minutes later, the two Mercer siblings were putting their old sneakers on and heading out the door. Alex grabbed the keys and locked the house behind them. Once he was sure that the house was all locked up, Alex went to the garage, Dana following him. He picked up his bike and straddled it. He rode the bike out of the garage and then shut the garage door.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Dana asked as she eyed the bike. She didn't have her own, and she doubted that Alex would take her to school on his old bike. "Aren't we going to ride the bus?"

Alex shook his head. "I have to go to work right after school ends for most of the school week. You're taking the bus, I'm not. I'm not going to be able to for the whole year, so you better get used to riding the bus without me. I'll wait until the bus comes, but then I'm leaving you."

Dana groaned and made her way to the bus stop, Alex right next to her. They stopped at the corner of their street, where two other kids in their neighborhood were waiting for the bus. Those kids ignored Dana and Alex, knowing that the two of them tended to keep to themselves while at school. Alex was fine with that; he didn't like people, especially when they were around him. Call him anti-social, but Alex just preferred to be by himself.

Alex impatiently waited until the yellow bus came into view, and then he said goodbye to his little sister. Alex made his way to school, which was only about ten minutes away on bike. The road was packed full of cars as people all over White Plains made their way to work either here in town or down south in New York City. Because of this, Alex was forced onto the sidewalks, where he had to dodge slow moving civilians.

"Hey, watch where you're going young man!" An African American in a trench coat yelled at Alex as he almost ran into him, but had swerved out of the way at the last second..

Alex didn't stop pedaling, but turned his head and looked at the man. The teenager flipped the man a finger angrily. That in return seemed to tick the man off even more.

"Why don't you watch the fuck where you're going, asshole?" Alex retorted before turning around the corner, leaving the man behind to fume.

Alex continued down the sidewalk. He could see the school just up ahead, and he could see the masses of students preparing for the school year. There were filing into the large doors as the busses left. Alex frowned; Dana's bus must have passed him without him even noticing it. By the time Alex arrived in the front of the school, there were only a few students still clustered around. Alex chained up his bike at the bike racks and then hesitantly entered the dreadful building.

It looked even more crowded in the halls, and Alex had to push his way through the floods of people until he found his old locker. Through the torrent of people, Alex felt cramped and claustrophobic; he felt like he had to escape the place for fresh air. But no, he was trapped by his locker. It was the same one that he'd been using for the past couple years, and he could remember his combo instantly. Once his locker was open, he threw his backpack in it and slammed the metallic door. Alex made his way to the main office, where all of the other students were getting their schedules.

There was a line, and Alex was stuck at the end of it. He slid his hoodie's hood up and then forced his hands into his jean pockets. Alex hunched his shoulders, as if trying to hide in the crowd of people. As the minutes passed, the line grew shorter until Alex entered the small main office, where an old secretary with graying hair was handing off envelopes to the remaining students.

"Name?" The secretary droned as Alex stepped up to her desk. She looked completely miserable, just like Alex felt.

"Alex J. Mercer." Alex muttered as he avoided the secretary's uninterested glares. He pushed his thick rimmed glasses further up his nose.

The secretary let out a heavy sigh before bending over an opened filing cabinet. After a second of muttering and fingering through the different envelopes, the old secretary finally found his and handed it to him. Alex nodded his head in thanks, and the old woman of a secretary just waved him off, obviously upset that the summer was already gone.

"Have a wonderful year." The secretary muttered, almost sarcastic. She grabbed a mug of coffee and took a large gulp before turning her attention to the few kids behind Alex. "Name?"

As Alex made his way back out the main office, he ran into a thickly built man. He let out a large 'oof' and grew irritated at whoever he had run into. He was about to tell the man off when he realized that it was the same man on the street that he had flipped off. The man towered over him and gave him a stern look, which caused the teenager to take a half step back.

"Morning Gladys, how was your vacation?" The man said, ignoring Alex further. The man went over to the coffee maker in the back of the main office and poured himself a mug of black coffee before he took off his trench coat to reveal a neatly fitted suit and tie. "Did you go to the tropics like you planned?"

"No, Mr. Robinson. My husband grew ill before we could leave for Costa Rica. He passed away shortly afterwards." The secretary stated in an overly nasal voice. "But other than that, it was fine."

"Oh, I'm sorry for your loss." The man, Mr. Robinson, apologized as he headed to a room in the back. He paused at the doorway and took a sip of his black coffee. Mr. Robinson returned to his gaze at Alex, who had not bothered leaving the main office yet. He narrowed his eyes at Alex before frowning. "And young man, it's against school rules to have hoodies up. This'll be your only warning."

Before Alex could respond, Mr. Robinson opened the door and snuck inside the separate office. It was then that he could see that _Principal's Office_ was engraved in a plack on a door. Alex mentally swore to himself, he had probably just pissed off the principal. He wasn't starting on the right foot this year.

But really, when _did_ he start on the right foot?

"This is gonna be another great year." Alex muttered sarcastically as he left the main office and made his way to his first class.

Just like he had guessed, school was turning out to be a humongous waste of time. It was currently lunch, and Alex had already gone to most of his classes, which included English, Math, and History. All he had left was Gym, a free hour to do his homework, and Science. Nonetheless, Alex knew that this would be yet another uneventful year of useless knowledge.

He grabbed his lunch from his locker and made his way to the school's cafeteria. The place was packed with kids from all ages, ranging from Dana's age to seniors. Alex was just starting his sophomore year, and felt out of place with kids around his own age. Alex claimed at lone table for himself, and the other students knew to leave him alone. There was just something about Alex that creeped everyone other than his sister out.

Alex took his lunch out of a paper bag and ate in silence. He thought as he ate. He thought of all the stuff he could be doing at home or at work that would help fool Mr. Conway. Being stuck in school for several hours did not benefit him. At all.

Just as Alex was finishing his sandwich, he felt something hit him in the back of his head. An explosion of pain shot through him and he instantly grabbed onto the area that had been hit. He let out a stifled cry and felt that his head already starting to swell up.

"The hell?" Alex said as he looked around to see what had hit him. He looked under his table to see that an apple was resting against one of his chair's legs. He could see an indent where the apple had made contact with the back of his head. He picked it up and clenched it tightly in his right hand.

"Glad to see you're back, Mercer." A familiar voice growled behind Alex. "Got bored over the summer without you around."

Alex cringed at the voice, remembering who it belonged to. If there was anything Alex had learned while at school, it was that he had somehow been specifically bred to become bullying material. Alex didn't know if it was because he had grown up in foster care, had a reputational alcoholic mother, being an antisocial person, or because he was weak enough to be bullied. But all of those reasons made him the prime target of Marcus Dewitt.

Marcus stood about ten feet away, arms crossed and a huge grin on his face. Alex returned the grin with a scowl. Dewitt was a senior last year, and he should have graduated from school. But, obviously, he had been pulled back for another year. Alex was not happy with that revelation.

"What do you want, Dewitt?" Alex stubbornly asked as he returned to his lunch.

Marcus let out a devious laugh and made his way to Alex's table. He violently pulled out a chair and sat down in it, putting his booted feet up on the table by Alex's food. Alex scowled at Marcus and moved his food away from the dirty boots.

"What, you mind that I come over and greet and old friend? Typical." Marcus stated disapprovingly. "Have you already forgotten all of the fun shit we did together last year?"

"Yes." Alex didn't hesitate to say, his voice breaking on that single word. Marcus couldn't help but burst into laughter at that, and he bent over while trying to keep his sides from exploding. "Shut the hell up. And get the hell away from me."

Alex voice had risen in volume, and with Marcus's accompanying laughter, the whole cafeteria noticed that something was going on. The obnoxious volume had quieted down to a dull roar, and almost all eyes were on the two of them. Marcus noticed this and took this to his advantage.

"You got a problem, Mercer? 'Cause I can fix that." Marcus said, his eyes turning hostile in an instant. "I can show you no mercy, remember?"

Alex didn't want the situation to progress even more than it had.

"Leave, now." Alex ordered, his voice low and it had a tint of steel in it. His own eyes turned hostile, and he could see that it did have an effect on Marcus. Alex's body tensed, not knowing if Marcus would either leave or throw the first punch. "And I mean _now_."

Marcus didn't move. He glowered at Alex for a long time before shifting his eyes at the crowd of people who were watching the whole display. Both of them had no idea if someone ran off to grab a teacher, but Marcus wasn't worried about that. Marcus found his confidence again and let out a menacing like laugh, and Alex decided that he did not want to be here.

"Fine, I'll leave you, Mercer." Marcus said as he got up and made his way away from Alex. But suddenly, he stopped and gave the other boy a parting glance. "Besides, it's about time that I introduce myself to your sister. I have a feeling that she'll _love_ me."

Alex heart stopped as the other's words left his lips. Alex let out a growl and shot up from his seat, hands clashed into weak, unskilled fists. He glared at Marcus, and he was sure that if there was no one around, he would have tried to kill him. No one was going to lay a hand on his younger sister.

"Stay the hell away from her." Alex threatened, which silenced the whole cafeteria. "Or else."

"Or else what, Mercer?" Marcus said as he slowly made his way back to Alex. He stood up tall, trying to make himself even larger, until he was looming over gangly Alex. Marcus crossed his arms and frowned at Mercer. "What would you do to me? What could you possibly do to me? You're so weak that I'm surprised that you can hold your own body up."

Alex was pretty weak, but he was sure that he could hold his own in a fight against Marcus. Hell, he lived with his mother, so that had to count as something. As long as he was focused on the task at hand, Alex could do anything he wanted.

"Just stay away from Dana." Alex said one last time before turning around and leaving the bully behind him.

Alex only got a couple feet away before he felt himself getting hoisted up in midair. He felt very uncomfortable down below and then he finally realized that someone had just given him a wedgie. One large, embarrassing wedgie. The others students in the cafeteria realized this and began breaking down in laughter. After what seemed like forever, Alex was brought back down on the ground. He tried to fix himself, but that only accumulated in more laughter.

Some of that laughter was Marcus's.

"Remember, Mercer, I'll give you no mercy."

* * *

Sorry for the late-ish update. It's been pretty busy at the moment (plus, I'm lazy. Like, extremely lazy). I'll try to update more normally next time.


	6. It's Not Rocket Science

Classes were almost done and over with, and then Alex could get to work at home. Gym was just as miserable as lunch had been. Others noticed how weak and vulnerable Alex could be if someone dug down deep enough. You just had to work to get the enjoyment out of his pain. For the first day, the school's coach decided to play dodge ball, and Alex seemed to be the walking target. As soon as gym ended, the teenager could feel his body ache from all the hard balls.

For his free period, Alex decided that it was time to get some well deserved peace. He stormed off into the library, ignoring the eyes of a few sniggering students who had witnessed his earlier humiliations, and found a dark corner. Alex fell into a chair and put his head on a small, wooden table that looked like no one had touched in years. Once he was sure that he was alone, and safe from any curious eyes, he pulled his hood back over his head. Without further adieu, Alex dozed off into a shallow sleep.

And he slept for over an hour.

Alex finally came to when someone was shaking him furiously. He groggily sat up and rubbed his eyes, only to see that the young librarian was right next to him. The librarian was holding a large textbook in one of his hands, and kept the other hand on Alex's shoulder. He looked irritated that some hooligan had fallen asleep in his library.

"Hey kid, you've been sleepin' here too long. Get to your next class before I give you detention." The librarian then muttered something to himself as he left Alex alone.

Alex groaned as he forced himself out of the chair and looked around the library for a clock. He pushed his glasses back onto his nose and noticed that school day was almost over. The teenager swore to himself; he had already missed most of his Science hour. Alex grabbed his bag and headed out of the quiet library.

The halls were completely deserted, due to the fact that everybody was in a class. Alex ran down the halls, trying to find the science wing. After a couple minutes, he entered the science wing and knocked on his classroom's door. He waited impatiently, shoulders hunched, for someone to let him into his last class for the day.

Finally, the thick door opened to reveal an old man of a professor staring down at him. The old teacher stared at Alex with cold, grey eyes that spoke of experience with his age. Alex broke their gaze, feeling uncomfortable with the older man's eyes on him. He felt like he was being judged, which was most likely true.

The teacher had light grey hair, which was completely thinned out; only a few strands covered his shiny bald spot. The teacher didn't wear glasses, his cold grey eyes looked healthy enough to not need the extra help. He had an abnormally large red nose, and a large set of ears to go with it. He wore a starch white lab coat that went down to his knees that went over a flannel shirt and red suspenders, making his whole outfit clash hideously.

"Ah, you must be Alex." The old man said with a soft, calm voice. His words were soft but demanded the teenager's fullest attention, and Alex felt like the man was luring him into a trap with false security. "Not the best way to start the year, isn't it? You've already missed the introduction to Chemistry."

Alex didn't respond, but rather tried to avoid making eye contact with the older man. Nonetheless, the old man was expecting a response, so Alex just stiffly shrugged. The teacher made a barely audible sound of disapproval before stepping out of the way for Alex to enter his classroom. Alex didn't hesitate to get out of the man's judgmental scrutiny and headed to the empty desk at the back of the class.

"Well, my students, now that our little interruption is over with," The teacher, whose name was apparently Mr. Renner because it was written on the chalkboard, quietly said to his class. "We can begin handing out Textbooks. Miss Sasha, will give me a lending hand?"

As Alex took his seat, one of the girls in his class stood up and helped Mr. Renner pass out the thick textbooks. Alex didn't bother watching them, thinking that this would be another dull year where a teacher would be trying to drill useless facts into his head. His gaze turned to the window, where he could watch cars zip by the school.

He did not want to be here. His whole body loathed school, and he would do anything to—

A thick textbook was dropped down onto his desk, and a small cloud of dust lofted its way into Alex's lungs. He sickly coughed and looked down at the book. _Chemistry 201: Advanced Studies in Biochemistry and Organic Chemistry._ Alex frowned at the title of the book. He didn't like the sound of "advanced studies".

"Don't worry, as some of you may be." Mr. Renner stated as he saw many of his students grow anxious at the book's title. "This, my students, is an older textbook than the ones that the advanced class uses. The material that you need is in this one, while the advanced class needs a more updated version."

The students still didn't seem convinced. Alex sure as hell wasn't. He just needed the credit to graduate.

"Relax, it's not rocket science." Mr. Renner stressed.

Alex could see a visible sigh of relief roll off of the rest of his class. He joined in with the other students, letting his tensed body relax a bit in his seat. He fixed his glasses, and then opened his textbook to see what an awful state it was in. The previous owners must have not cared about it, as they had written in any place possible with ink. Alex could make out immature drawings and a few cuss words. Alex frowned and grabbed his pen to quickly scribble out as much as he could.

"Alex!" Mr. Renner's voice quickly snapped, silencing the slightly chatty room. Alex looked up to see that Mr. Renner was ready to scold him. "These books are very fragile, and you must treat them with respect. If I catch you writing in it again, you will not only have to pay for a replacement, but for that one as well."

"But—"

"No but's in my classroom, Alex. You've missed that rule in the beginning of the class." Mr. Renner stopped Alex's protests with a simple wave of his hand. The whole class turned around to stare at Alex, and a couple sniggered at the sight of his flabbergasted expression. "This is your only warning, the next break of my rules with equal a detention after school."

Alex scowled as an act of defiance and slammed his book close again. He crossed his arms and reclined back into his chair. Alex grew irritated at his teacher's words, but held his tongue and didn't retort back. Mr. Renner didn't take his eyes off of the teenager until he was sure that Alex was done. With a simple nod with his head, Mr. Renner turned his back on the class and picked up a piece of chalk.

"_Yep"_, Alex thought. He knew he was not going to enjoy this class. _"This is exactly what I expected. A bastard of a teacher trying to tell me what's right and wrong. Perfect, just fuckin' perfect."_

"Now, let's begin again, shall we?" Mr. Renner said as he began writing on the chalkboard, the writing instrument scratching across it. "There are many elements on the Periodic Table. Some of these elements include Noble Gases, nonmetals, and . . ."

* * *

The final bell finally rung with a loud ding, and Alex didn't hesitate to jump out of his seat. Mr. Renner looked surprised that his last hour had ended so quickly, and saw his students sprout into chatter. He watched them leave with curious eyes, and soon saw Alex, sulking in a rotten mood, make his way to the door. The old teacher frowned as Alex passed him, and he reached out to grab the young teenager's arm. Alex flinched at the touch, and he frowned at the teacher as he was stopped.

"I did not mean to snap at you, Alex." Mr. Renner stated, as if guessing that was the reason for Alex's foul mood. "I am sorry for being temperamental, but that tends to happen when students are late to my class."

Alex didn't say anything and just glared at the teacher, loathing the contact. Mr. Renner softened up a bit, now that his class was over with. Alex knew that he meant no harm, but he still had a raw hatred for the teacher. If there was one thing he hated, it was being reprimanded, especially when others were watching.

Mr. Renner noticed Alex's antagonism against him, and sadly frowned.

"Is there more to this, Alex? You seem preoccupied. As a teacher here, I am obligated to help any of my students." Mr. Renner stated, his gaze softening slightly. He waited for Alex to respond, but was met with a cold stare instead. "Are there problems at home?"

"What? No!" Alex snapped quickly, his eyes glaring at the old teacher. The teacher had hit the nail spot on, and that was too close for comfort. _"Who does this guy think he is? I'm not telling him a fucking thing about my life."_ Why would he? There was little Mr. Renner could do to help him, anyways. "Nothing's wrong. Let me go."

Mr. Renner was hesitant to do so, but let go of Alex's arm. Alex stiffly nodded as thanks and exited the room, textbook in his hand. He walked through the crowded hallways to his locker. He opened his locker and recklessly threw the chemistry textbook into it. With a loud slam, Alex closed his locker and headed out of the school, ready to start real work at home.

As Alex exited the city's school, he looked over to the line of yellow buses, hoping to see his sister in the mess of children. He paused by the bike racks, hawk like eyes searching for Dana's brownish red pigtails. After a second, Alex saw his sister climb onto a bus with her racecar themed backpack. He remained where he stood until he was sure that Dana was safe on the bus, and then he turned to unchain his bike.

Alex swung his backpack over his shoulder and hopped onto his rusty bike. He shot off of the school's property and biked his way to his neighbor hood. While he peddled away, he allowed his busy mind to shut off and then mindlessly rode his way until he realized that he was in front of his house. Alex jumped off of his bike and put it away in the garage.

"Time to start working." Alex muttered to himself as he dropped his backpack.

Alex cleaned off his glasses for a quick second and then put them back on his head. He found the paint cans from earlier this morning and prepared to paint the house. Alex headed outside with a ladder and a paint roller in one hand, and an old white pain can in the other. A couple minutes passed, and he was already painting the front of the house.

A school bus stopped in front of the house, but Alex didn't stop his work to make sure that his sister was being dropped off. The bus pulled away, and Alex could hear Dana's footsteps coming up on the sidewalk, onto the front porch, and through the front door. She must have been curious about what he was doing, but knew better to not ask him at the time being. Alex didn't pause in his work, but rather continued to paint a thick layer of white paint over the old, faded one.

The day was already hot, and his shirt began to cling to his skin as he perspired. Soon afterwards, Alex was forced to take off his grey hoodie and he tossed it aside, leaving him in a dirty old T-shirt. Still, he felt like he was in an oven. Within an hour, he was forced to retire into the kitchen, gulping down a long, cool glass of water.

"_At this rate, I'll be done in December."_ Alex glumly thought as he wiped the sweat off of his forehead.

He took another large gulp of water and then peered into the living room, looking for Dana. Dana was on the couch, her sneakers still on her feet, and was reading a small book. She didn't look like wanted to be bothered, so Alex retreated back outside to inspect his handiwork. He frowned at the sight; it didn't look as nice as he expected. But it would work for the CPS.

Alex grumbled to himself as he grabbed the paint roller and dipped it in a thick layer of wet paint. He climbed the ladder and began his work again. It was dull, tedious task, and Alex soon lost all contact with the outside world as he focused on the paint roller and the front side of his house. Only when he finished one side of the house did he realize that the sun was beginning to set.

"_How long was I out here? Six hours?" _Alex thought to himself. He jumped off of the ladder and quickly put the paint away, deciding to do the other side of the house on Thursday. He looked into the window, checking to see if Dana was alright. "Hey Dana! Are you hungry?"

"A bit!" Dana's response echoed through the house as Alex came inside. Alex went into the living room, only to see that Dana was watching Tom and Jerry with her utmost concentration. After commercials started rolling, Dana turned to look at her sweaty brother. "What's for dinner?"

Alex sighed as he thought.

"Does pasta sound good?" He finally asked. Dana nodded, and Alex faintly smiled. Just faintly. "It'll be ready in ten minutes, then."

Alex left his sister and then headed to the kitchen pantry. As he opened the door, he noticed the lack of alcohol in the closet, and Alex couldn't help but smirk maliciously. He knew he'd regret doing it when Jodie came back tomorrow, but he rationalized the look on her face would be worth it in the end.

Alex grabbed a box of pasta and returned to the kitchen, a wicked smirk still on his face. He picked up a pot, filled it with water, and then put it on the stove top. As he waited for the water to boil, Alex looked out the kitchen window to try and see the handiwork. But the angle was off, and all he could see was the road and a couple parked cars.

Alex shrugged and then turned to tend to the simmering pot, but stopped when something caught his eye. He frowned, and returned his gaze outside out to the parked cars. One car had a couple leaves on the top of it, signaling that it had been there, unattended, for a couple of days. However, the other one looked like it was still on, and the windows were too tainted for Alex to see if anyone was in there.

Something wasn't right.

Before he could properly think out a reasonable plan, Alex found himself stomping out the front door. Whoever was in that car had set him off, and his impulsive side had surfaced. He didn't know what they were doing exactly, but they were definitely spying on him and his sister.

"Hey you!" Alex shouted at the car when he reached the middle of his unkempt lawn. His voice was loud and aggressive, despite the small crack in between words. He could faintly see the outline of a man's face turn to his direction, surprised that he had been caught. "Get the hell out of here!"

Before Alex could continue ranting to the mysterious person in the car, the car floored it and shot down the street. Alex irritatingly stared at the car as it turned around the corner and down the street. There was no way he could make out the person behind the wheel. However, Alex had managed to catch the first four digits of the license plate.

"6F39." Alex muttered to himself, making a mental sticky note. Once he was sure that he would remember the series of digits, Alex trudged back into the house. _"Who the hell was that? Were they from the CPS? God, I sure hope not." _

As he came back into the kitchen, he noticed the pot boiling over. Panic rose through him, and he softly swore to himself as he reached out with an unprotected hand. That wasn't his best move, and a searing burst of pain shot through his fingers at the contact with the hot metal. Alex pulled his hand back, cussing as he tried to shake off the burn, and then turned off the stove.

"Shit. Uh, Dana?" Alex called out for his sister. "Dinner's gonna take a little longer. Okay?"

"Got it!" Dana replied, and then returned to doing whatever she was doing.

Alex grabbed a kitchen rag and clutched onto the scorching pot precariously. He brought it over to the kitchen sink and then dumped the contents into the drainer. Hot steam formed as the boiling water touched the cool metal of the sink, and Alex was drawn into it with the warm, comfortable feeling.

He then looked out the window, right at the place where the car had been. Alex frowned; whoever that guy was, he knew something. And Alex knew he should expect another unwanted visit from the man sometime soon.

"Whoever you were, I'm not gonna forget you."


	7. Delivery

The final bell for the school day rung, and Alex let out a heavy sigh, but cringed when pain shot through his back. Aside from the pain in his back, Alex was obviously relieved that another dull and boring science class was done and over with. Mr. Renner stopped in his lecture, slightly shocked that yet again, his class had ended earlier than expected. The teacher nodded though, and then addressed his students as they left his classroom in a rush.

"Don't forget to read chapter one of the textbook by Thursday for homework. You'll be underprepared for the test Friday if you decide to slack off." Mr. Renner warned his students, though most seemed to ignore him.

Alex ignored it, that was for sure. He plopped the chemistry textbook in his backpack and fled the science room as if it contained the black plague or something far worse. Alex avoided Mr. Renner's gaze as he walked out of the door, but he still felt the old man's eyes on him as he walked down the crowded hallway. Mr. Renner was really starting to get on the teenager's nerves.

"_What the hell does he want with me?"_ Alex asked himself. He furrowed his eyebrows as he thought about the old chemistry teacher. Even during class, Mr. Renner seemed to look at Alex more than everyone else, which only led to Alex giving him a slightly awkward look. _"Why can't he ignore me like the rest of the teachers in this damn place?"_

Alex quickly put his stuff in his locker, deciding not to do his assigned homework for the night, and slammed the door. He trudged out of the front exit, being pushed and shoved as other nameless students rushed to catch their buses before they left. He cringed his teeth each time someone bumped into him, but tried to ignore them otherwise.

As he was unchaining his bike, he heard someone running over to him. He looked up to see his sister making his way over to him, a smile on his face. He smiled and took her into a hug, it looked like she needed one anyways. Dana clung to him, like a sloth would cling onto a tree branch.

"Something wrong, Dana?" Alex asked as he finally pushed her off of him. He took in her face, and she didn't look sad or worried. Rather, Dana looked surprisingly pleasant and cheery. "What's up, kiddo?"

"I made a friend!" Dana quickly told Alex, her blue eyes flashing with happiness and a smile covering half of her face. This was one of the first times that Alex had ever seen her smile so big. "Her name's Alicia and she wants me to go over to her house for afternoon. Can I go? Please?"

"Uh . . ." Alex paused to think for a second. He didn't know who this Alicia girl was and where she lived. For that that he knew, someone could be trying to kidnap Dana while he was at work. If he said yes, then he would have no idea what kind of trouble he was putting Dana in. That didn't sit well with him.

However, if he said no, Dana would be forced to ride the bus home. And Jodie was home right now, completely wasted. And pissed off, too. Alex took full responsibility for that though, considering that _he _was the one who destroyed her stash of booze. Still, Jodie was more than likely to be in a foul mood when she woke, and Alex didn't want Dana around her.

"Sure, just get home before six, okay?" Alex reluctantly agreed.

Dana nodded her head and then gave her brother one last hug before running off to a nearby bus. Alex watched her join a dark skinned girl in a light blue dress, which he assumed to be Alicia, and the two girls climbed into the bus. Alex kept his eyes on his bus until he saw Dana's outline sit in a seat. He waved to her before hopping on his bike.

Just as the buses were pulling out of the school's parking lot, Alex shot down the street. He pedaled his way to Tony's Pizzeria to start his next shift, only vaguely aware of the traffic around him. He hadn't gotten enough sleep last night, his horrible mattress a contributing factor. His back ached too much also, though the cause of that was not from the horrid mattress he slept on.

As soon as Jodie realized that all of her alcohol was gone, she had given Alex a beating he would never forget. His back was scraped up so much that it looked like he was dragged across a bed of nails, but that was just from a belt buckle. Alex would be forced to wear a hoodie for the next couple weeks as the wounds healed up. But right now, it hurt him so much that he cringed if he didn't move a certain way.

Alex rounded the corner, and he soon entered the employee's parking area of Tony's Pizzeria. Alex poorly chained his bike to a telephone pole, knowing that he'd have to unchain it soon anyways, and entered the back door. The cooks for Tony's Pizzeria were already spewing out pizzas, and the other students who worked here had already arrived a couple minutes ago. He headed for a cabinet in the back of the kitchen where he kept the company's T-Shirt, which was the only form of uniform he had to wear.

As soon as he was ready, one of the pizza makers came over and plopped five pizza boxes into his open arms. Alex flinched as he tried to hold the weight with his back, putting stress onto his injuries. He tried to cover up his pain, but the cook noticed it.

"Hey kid, you alright?" He said, pausing with his work and giving Alex a look of concern. "You don't look so hot."

"I'm fine." Alex muttered as he started to exit the kitchen. "Just peachy."

"Then tell me how you got those scratches all over your face." The cook demanded, making Alex stop in his steps. Alex turned around, trying to keep a straight face. He had forgotten about the scratches on his face. He had put some of Jodie's makeup on this morning to cover most of it, but it must have worn off through the day. "That doesn't look _peachy_."

Alex didn't hesitate to give him a fake answer.

"I have a cat at home. He wasn't feeling very affectionate last night." Alex said, his tone of voice dead and serious.

With that, the cook waved him off; his interest in the teenager was already gone. He went back to the stove, and Alex was free to deliver the pizzas. He looked onto of the first box, and noticed that the address was just a couple blocks away. Alex took the chain off of his bike and hopped on clumsily. With one hand holding onto the pizzas, and the other holding the handlebar, Alex took off to deliver his first pizza.

Like always, it was difficult riding a bike while holding onto pizzas, but Alex was determined to keep this job. He managed to get to the first address without much of a hitch. Alex quickly jumped off of the bike and ran up to the door bell of the apartment. Within a minute, someone was down to pick up the pizza. It was an old fat man with a beer belly. The smell of cigarettes clung to him like a thick blanket.

"How much do I owe ya, kid?" The man said with a thick smoker's voice.

"That'll cost you $12.50, sir." Alex said, forcing a smile on his face, just like Tony told him to. After his first day on the job, Tony had received complaints about Alex's attitude. With just a couple threats, Tony managed to drill Alex to be happy to his customers. Alex hated it.

The man nodded before giving Alex a grumpy look. He pulled out his wallet and gave Alex his money. Alex grudgingly thanked the man and went back to his bike. Within seconds, the man went back inside, and Alex was already down the street.

His next address was for the next two boxes, and it was south from here. Alex turned his bike around, and shot down the street. His legs started to burn, but Alex gritted his teeth and continued on ahead. He was forced to stop at a couple red lights, which put him way behind schedule. As soon at the light was clear, Alex shot forward until he reached the suburban area that the address belonged to.

He found the address, and then pulled into the driveway. He didn't even have to set his bike down, someone was waiting for him. It looked like a mother, and she was impatiently waiting for him. He was about to greet her like Tony ordered him to do, but she just grabbed the pizzas harshly.

"How much?" The woman asked, clearly irritated.

"Twenty six, even." Alex stated, meeting the woman with the same kindness that she had given him, which was none. The woman gave him a disgusted look, and that only gave Alex more reason to give her a hard time. "Cash."

"Christ, that's as expensive as hell!" The woman said. She crossed her arms and shook her head. "I'm not paying full price for that."

Alex shrugged, if she wasn't going to pay full price, then he had no reason to be here. He started backing up on his bike, and just as he started to away, he saw the woman's disgruntled look. Alex smirked one last time before pulling out of her driveway.

"For fucks sake," The woman moaned, "That doesn't mean I don't want them. I'll give you a twenty and a chocolate bar. Kids your age like chocolate bars, right?"

Alex gave her a funny look. _"How old does she think I am? Fuckin' five?"_

"Ma'am, its twenty six dollars cash." Alex stated severely. He glared at her, and he could see that the woman was not intimidated by his harsh expression. Despite his cold personality, he was still a kid to many adults. "We don't accept candy bars."

Finally, after a couple seconds of thinking, she sighed desperately. She pulled out her purse and handed him a twenty, a five, and a one. Alex begrudgingly thanked the woman boxes and left before waiting a reply. After riding around for a few minutes, he realized that he still had another couple pizzas to deliver. He glanced down quickly and noticed the next pizza box was to be delivered in the same neighborhood.

Alex turned around in one swift movement, despite the pain he received from his back, and headed back down the suburban street. As he made his way down the street, he noticed how well off this neighborhood was in comparison to his. He felt like he was in a completely different world, a world that was much cleaner than his own. Alex felt so out of place, like he didn't belong here.

Through the winding streets of the suburban neighborhood, he noticed how nice the houses looked, and how they put his to shame. Even with him trying to spruce the place up for the CPS, his place still looked like a crumbling shack compared to these.

Alex found the correct address and pulled into the driveway. He hoped whoever wanted this pizza was a lot nicer than the last person. He walked to the door and quickly rang the door bell. He impatiently waited for a minute before pressing the button again. When someone finally opened the door, he was surprised to see who it was.

"Da-Dana?" Alex sputtered.

"Alex! I didn't know _you_ were the one who was delivering the pizza!" Dana cried out as she hugged him around the waist. He patted Dana on the head affectionately while holding the last pizza box with one hand. She let go, and then grabbed Alex's free hand, leading him into the unfamiliar house. "Come on in, I want you to meet Alicia."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Dana. I have to— whoa!"

And with that, Alex was forced into the house's living room, where another girl was waiting to finish a board game. She had short, curly brown hair, tanned skin, and wore glasses. The girl, who must have been Alicia, looked up at Alex curiously before looking very worried for a six year old.

"Mom?" Alicia called out, unsure of Alex and why he was in her house. "There's a guy in the house!"

Without further adieu, a woman in her early thirties sprinted out of what Alex assumed was the kitchen. She had a plate and a rag in her hands, but was tensed with fright from her daughter's words. She looked up and down Alex, and then was finally relieved when she saw the pizzeria shirt he was wearing. She set the plate and rag down on the table and came over with her right arm extended.

"Hello, are you the delivery guy?" The mother asked, a pearly white smile on her face. She looked like an older version of Alicia, but with a darker shade of skin and a couple more years of experience behind her. She anxiously looked at Alex's scratched face, but said nothing.

"Yeah, I am." Alex said as he took her hand. "I'm also Dana's brother, Alex."

The woman's eyes lit up with wonder, and she quickly glanced at Dana by the teenager's side. It took her a second to notice the similarities the siblings shared, but when she made the connection, it looked like a light bulb had gone off in her mind. She grasped Alex's hand a little stronger, and it was then that Alex decided that he actually might respect this woman.

"Well, hello Alex. Dana's been telling both of us a lot about you. You must be a very loving brother, and she must be a very lucky girl." The mother said. "You can call me Mrs. Robinson, Alex. My husband works at the school."

The smile that Alex had been wearing disappeared. This was the principle's wife. Not only had he managed to piss the principle off, but Dana became friends with his daughter. This would not bode well later on, he was sure of it.

"I've ran into him." Alex muttered, changing the whole mood. Suddenly, he remembered why he was here in the first place. "I believed you ordered a pizza from Tony's?"

"Oh, yes, I did." Mrs. Robinson said, suddenly aware that Alex was holding a pizza box in his other hand. She took the box and put it down on the table. Alicia opened it immediately, and gave a piece to Dana. "No girls, go wash your hands before you eat."

Dana and Alicia groaned as they headed off into the house to follow Mrs. Robinsons orders. Dana waved goodbye to her brother before disappearing behind the corner. He smiled at her, and then looked up at Mrs. Robinson. She seemed to be studying him, and that slightly set him on edge.

Finally, Mrs. Robinson spoke. "You really care for your younger sister, don't you?"

"More than you can ever imagine." Alex stated as he nodded his head in agreement. "Ah, that'll be $9.50, Mrs. Robinson."

"Oh yes, you have other pizzas to deliver. I'm sorry for holding you up." Mrs. Robinson apologized. She showed Alex to the door, and then bid him goodbye. However, just as Alex got on his bike, Mrs. Robinson called out for him. "Feel free to have yourself or Dana over anytime you want."

"Thanks for the hospatility, Mrs. Robinson." Alex said as he pedaled away. As pulled out of the suburban area, he finished his thought process. "But I'm sure your husband will not return it."

With the time limit fast approaching, Alex picked up his pace. Fortunately, the last delivery was right down Main Street. Alex pushed his body to extreme and ignored his body's demands to quit. Alex just had to remind himself that this was only the first round of deliveries he'd have to make for the day.


	8. Family Roulette

Today was the big day, and Alex felt horribly under prepared.

Alex barged into Dana's room, his face fretful and voice faltering. He was wearing his nicest clothes, which happened to be a long pair of khakis, black pointed shoes, and a green argyle sweater. Alex's onyx black hair had been slicked back with one of Jodie's hair products, making it look sleek under light. The scratches on his face had healed up nicely in the past two weeks, and they were practically unnoticeable.

All and all, he looked somewhat descent for someone who lived in the slums.

"Dana, are you ready?" Alex asked, his voice cracking as he grew anxious.

"Almost. I can't get the zipper in the back." Dana muttered, and Alex could hear her struggles in her voice. Alex came in then. He saw her hopping around, hopelessly trying to zip up the back of her starchy pink dress that Alex bought from Salvation Army a couple days ago. He grabbed a hold of Dana to make her sit still and then quickly zipped up the back. "Thanks, Alex."

"Don't mention it, kiddo." Alex said as he took her into a quick embrace. "Now head down into the kitchen and make sure that Jod—I mean mom, doesn't have any liquor stashed away. If she dared to smuggle in any now, then . . ."

Alex couldn't finish his train of thought. Dana nodded though, understanding what he did, and what he didn't, say. The two of them left her room, and Alex peeked in one last time to make sure it looked clean and decent. He closed the door behind them, and Alex sent Dana down the stairs. Alex made another round upstairs to make sure that Jodie hadn't brought anything undesirable home in the past couple weeks.

Once he was sure that there was nothing that would immediately take the two of them out of Jodie's custody, Alex went downstairs. He went into the kitchen to see that both Jodie and Dana were sitting at the table, waiting for him to join them. Jodie was surprisingly sober, but she still looked somewhat like a wreck. She had a look of worry, but it was a selfish worry.

When Jodie realized that the CPS was on her tail, she had decided to join in Alex's endeavor to fool the agency. Even when she was sober, she could care less about her children. Alex knew that she thought that they were mistakes that she had made a long time ago, and that she would be happy to rid herself of them. But if the CPS did take Alex and Dana away, she'd most certainly end up back in jail. Jodie didn't want that, so if she had to choose between two kids or jail, she'd pick the kids.

So, it seemed that Alex and Jodie had come to a mutual agreement for just this one time.

Alex sat down between Jodie and Dana, and then three pairs of ice blue eyes shared anxious glances. They sat in a sterile smelling kitchen, their nose wrinkling in the stench of unnatural cleanliness. Alex had spent almost the whole night last night scrubbing the walls and floors clean, and he hoped that it would show.

"Do you have the papers?" Alex asked Jodie, his voice barely above a whisper.

Jodie nodded and then pulled a file out of her purse. It contained everything they needed for the CPS agents who were already on their way here. The file had Alex and Dana's birth certificates, Jodie's probation file copies, and the most recent court order stating that Jodie had custody of both of them. The Mercers hadn't touched the file for almost three years, and the files showed it with the yellowing of the pages.

Alex nodded. "Good. Remember what the CPS wanted for tonight?"

"Uhm, a tour of the house, observe us as we eat, and then they're going to interview each of us individually." Jodie muttered as she tried to collect her thoughts. The affects of her alcoholism showed in her voice, despite her sobriety at the moment. If anything, that was what Alex was worried about the most. "They said that they would arrive at six."

Alex checked the clock on the kitchen wall. They only had about ten minutes left to get their knots all straightened together. Dana jumped out of her chair and quickly filled up a plastic cup with apple juice. She sat back down and sipped it quietly. Even at her innocent age, she vaguely understood what was going on. Only vaguely.

They sat there for the last ten minutes, listening to the barely audible ticking of the secondhand arm of the clock. Their time limit passed, and Alex could faintly hear the sound of tires pulling into their driveway. Large, booted steps came up to their small front porch, and then there was a loud knocking on their front door.

Alex, Jodie, and Dana shared one last glance together, and then the teenager stood up and walked to the front door. Alex gulped, trying to get his nerves to settle down, and then he opened the door.

There were three people standing in front of the doorway, all waiting patiently for Alex to invite them inside. There was one old man with a large nose and a balding head, a younger looking man who Alex guessed was in his early to mid forties, and an older woman with graying curly hair. All three of them wore identical grey suits.

"Alex Mercer?" The younger man addressed the teenager. Alex remembered that this voice belonged to Mr. Conway, the social worker he had talked to over the phone.

"Yeah, that's me." Alex muttered with a frown on his face, forgetting that he should make a nice impression on these people. He caught himself and then made a mental note to kick himself in the ass later on for being so careless. Alex decided to try to be nice for a change. "Would you please come inside? The rest of my family is inside the kitchen."

Mr. Conway nodded and Alex led the three social workers into the kitchen, where Jodie was holding her head with her hands as if she was panicking and Dana was playing with the hem of her dress. Alex cleared his throat, and Jodie looked up, slightly glaring at Alex before realizing that her actions were now being judged. She fixed her messy dyed hair before standing up and putting on a façade.

"Judith Mercer, you must be Mr. Conway. Welcome to our humble abode." Jodie said with a sickly sweet smile. She stuck out her hand, and Mr. Conway shook it with a firm grasp. Even after the shake, Jodie kept her faux smile on, which was a strange sight to the Mercer siblings. "Would you three like something to drink? My darling daughter just made iced tea last night. I taught her myself."

"With all due respect, Mrs. Mercer, we could like to begin the tour of the house." Mr. Conway's female colleague spoke up, a small grimace covering her face.

"_Miss_ Mercer." Jodie pointed out, her tone becoming slightly bitter despite the plastered smile. "And of course, I understand."

There was a small pause as Jodie thought of something to do. The pause grew awkward, and Alex decided to take the reins before his mother did some damage to their already precarious situation. He took a step forward and tried to stand up as tall and proud a lanky teenager at his age could. His movement caught the female social worker's attention.

"Well, this is the kitchen. We usually eat here together. Mom cooks us breakfast and dinner here. Except for on Saturdays, then it's my job." Alex stated, using the exact words he had said while rehearsing in front of the mirror earlier today. "Dana usually likes to help both of us."

The oldest of the social workers looked down at Dana and raised an eyebrow, as if looking for confirmation. Dana saw him and she feverishly nodded her head, sending her reddish brown pigtails snapping up and down.

"I like to make pasta dishes with Alex. He lets me make the sauce." Dana muttered.

"And how about with your mother?" Mr. Conway asked, giving a look at Alex for some reason.

". . . Her too." Dana softly added, realizing that she had made a small mistake. Her face started turning red and she let her head fall to hide it from the social workers.

Alex decided that that was enough talk about the kitchen and led the way to the living room. The sound of the social workers following put the teenager on edge. _"Just ignore them, Alex. The quicker you get through this, the sooner they'll leave you the fuck alone." _ He stopped in the door way, but allowed the three strangers take a look at the shabby but clean-ish living space.

"This is our living room. I do my homework here, and Dana does too when her teachers giver it. Other times, she just watches T.V. or movies. Jodie sometimes joins us when she's off from work." Another lie. Jodie is never in this room unless she's too drunk or hung over to get up the stairs. "Fridays are our designated movie night."

The female social worker ignored the last part Alex said and turned her head to look at Jodie, who had joined her son at the doorway. She put her hands gently on Alex's shoulders, and the boy had to fight the urge to flinch and escape from her grip. The only time Jodie ever touched him was if she was trying to "punish" him.

"And what exactly is your job, _Miss_ Mercer?" She asked, giving the two of them a long look.

"I'm a . . . sales agent. For a cosmetic company." Jodie said, giving the woman her last job before filing for unemployment. "My hours aren't consistent, but I always try to be with my little sweeties as much as possible. But I can't help it sometimes, and I have to leave my darlings alone for the night."

"You leave the children alone?" Mr. Conway asked, as frown wrinkle appearing on his forehead. It almost looked like he had a pained expression on his face. "With no supervision?"

"Our neighbor Mrs. Winters checks up on us every couple hours." Alex quickly added, before giving a subtle glare at his mother for being so stupid. One thing you shouldn't tell the CPS is that you leave your children alone for long time periods. So Alex had to make up a fake neighbor to cover up her mistake. "She makes sure that we won't burn the house down or something equally stupid."

Mr. Conway didn't look convinced. Alex couldn't blame him.

"Alright, let's head upstairs." Alex muttered, losing the somewhat happy look he had put on in the beginning of this meeting. "Upstairs is where all of our bedrooms are, including the bathroom that we all share. . ."

* * *

The tour had progressively gotten worse each room Alex showed the CPS workers. It was just one mistake or the slip of the tongue that started snowballing until the end result was staring down at the Mercer family ominously. After all their careful planning, well Alex's planning, it had taken a turn for the worse. With just one look at Mr. Conway, Alex could tell that he was not happy that someone was trying to pull a sheet over his eyes.

And dinner was not better. Jodie took the meatloaf that she had surprisingly prepared earlier out of the oven, and the Mercer family sat down for a dinner. It was, unsurprisingly, a first for them, as Jodie never really wanted anything to do with her children, and both Dana and Alex had been fine with that. But when the three of them sat down, they had no idea how and what to do.

Let it be said that dinner was mostly the three of them picking at their meatloaf, asking and answering a bunch of questions that only made the air around them stale and awkward. All the while, the three CPS workers watched them intently, taking notes as if they were a science experiment. Only fifteen minutes into dinner, and Alex saw in his peripheral vision that the three of them had stopped scribbling in their notebooks. They had seen enough.

Still, the CPS workers allowed dinner to continue up to the point where Alex got up to do the dishes. Mr. Conway stepped forward, finally shattering the privacy bubble that he allowed to form while the broken family ate.

"Please, Alex, let your mother do the dishes." Mr. Conway ordered, his mouth settling into a thin line.

Alex and Jodie made eye contact, and the woman's face paled. Alex couldn't remember the last time Jodie did the dishes in their home. And by the looks of it, neither did Jodie. From the pleading look in her ice blue eyes, Alex could see that she didn't even remember how to do the dishes. And while this was a horrible problem, Alex couldn't help but feel smug at Jodie's silent pleas for help.

"Sure, why not?" Alex said cockily and sat back down next to Dana, who was oblivious to their exchange.

Jodie's expression then changed to a murderous one, and Alex knew that he'd pay for this later on tonight, or rather early tomorrow morning. It wouldn't matter; for seeing Jodie look that helpless, Alex would take all the beatings in the world.

However, Alex was only able to watch Jodie struggle with the dishes for a minute. Not too long after taking a seat next to Dana, Alex felt a hand tap him on his right shoulder. He moved to swat whoever it was away with a fierce stare, but stopped when he saw that it was Mr. Conway who had disturbed him. His own hand froze in mid air as he looked up at the CPS worker.

"Let your mother finish the dishes in peace, Alex." Mr. Conway said, his voice serious. "Come with me, let's start your interview."

Alex shrugged his shoulders and stood up. Mr. Conway led Alex outside to the front porch. He closed the door behind them, most likely as a privacy precaution from the others. Alex sat down on the porch's railing and impatiently waited for Mr. Conway to take the wooden chair next to him. While he waited, Alex took off his glasses and cleaned them a little too harshly, reflecting the mood he was currently in.

"Whenever you're ready, Alex." Mr. Conway stated as he took out his notebook.

"Shoot."

Mr. Conway thought in silence, trying to find a good question to begin the interview. Alex just crossed his arms and waited.

"You started living with your mother at the age of nine?" Mr. Conway finally asked.

"It was ten, and yeah." Alex muttered.

"And how was the transition between foster care and settling down with your mother and baby sister? Were there any difficulties?" Mr. Conway asked, looking Alex straight in the eye.

"Excuse me, Mr. Conway, but what the hell does this have to do with this meeting?" Alex said, his voice gaining a sharper quality to it. Alex jumped off from the porch's railing and then leaned against it, trying to show Mr. Conway that he wouldn't take any crap from him.

"It's just protocol, Alex. Calm down and answer the question so we can get to the more pressing matters." Mr. Conway stated with a sigh following afterwards. The last thing that he wanted was to antagonize Alex; it was his job to protect him and his sister, even if that meant digging through their lives. "Now, were there any difficulties?"

Alex just glared for a second before huffing out his answer. "Of course there was, and because of them, I had to grow up early. And I dealt with them. That's that."

"Can you clarify what those difficulties were?"

"I can't remember." Alex lied again. _"I had to take care of my baby sister by myself. I had to teach myself how to cook food to feed the two of us. I was beaten by my drunk mother almost every other day for reasons she wouldn't tell me. I had to learn to stop showing pain. That's just to name a few."_

"Okay then . . . let's move on. Are there any extra responsibilities you took on as you grew older?" Mr. Conway continued, though it was clear that Alex was yet again not fooling him. "Like you took over some of your mother's chores or something similar?"

"I got a job as a delivery man at a Pizzeria downtown. I wanted the extra money to help my family out." Alex muttered, avoiding the man's eyes by slouching. "And it does."

"Yes, because your mother's job of a sales representative for a cosmetic company doesn't bring enough dough to the house." Mr. Conway stated, his voice seriously sarcastic, which startled Alex. The man closed his notebook and set it aside. He stood up and stared at Alex. "Even though her records show that she filed for unemployment almost seven months ago."

"_Shit."_

"Alexander, I've been trained to detect when someone is lying during an interview. It's part of my job." Mr. Conway said, sounding all business. "I'm as keen as a polygraph machine. But usually, it's the parents or guardians who lie to me, not the children."

Mr. Conway suddenly got very intimidating at that moment. Alex felt uncomfortable and tried to make sure his eyes didn't show how powerless he felt. Still, Alex couldn't stop the exchange of his weight by shifting his feet. Now Alex knew that Mr. Conway could read body language very easily, and he also knew that it was futile to hide stuff from this man.

"Could you please explain to me why you are helping the woman that harms to you and maybe your sister?" Mr. Conway's tone had a hint of concern as he spoke. "Is it because she'll promise to do more damage to the two of you if you don't? Alex, I can help protect you."

Alex shook his head and rubbed his neck. It was a clear no on his end, and that only confused Mr. Conway more. The man raised one of his bushy eyebrows, and Alex let out a small groan. Alex didn't really want to explain it to the man, and it took all his willpower to hold his tongue. But in the end, it was the CPS worker who had won.

"She doesn't hurt Dana. And I want to keep it that way." Alex said in a low, almost inaudible voice. Mr. Conway looked like he wanted a better explanation, and Alex didn't hesitate to continue, now that he was starting to get things off his chest. "I've spent more than half my life in foster care, and it was just as bad as living with Jodie. But as long as Dana and I stay with our _mother_, I know that she won't be touched. I'm Jodie's favorite punching bag, not her."

"I'll do everything in my power, Alex, to make sure the two of you are taken to a good home." Mr. Conway offered, trying desperately to make the boy see reason.

Alex shook his head again. "You aren't the first person who's said that to me. Trust me, every social worker who's had the pleasure to work with me has good initial intentions, but that never stays for long. Dana and I'd be handed to another person who'd care less for us , and then to another, and then another. We'd be split up and I'd have no idea if Dana's safe or not. I don't want to risk that."

Mr. Conway furrowed his eyebrows at Alex, finally comprehending what Alex was saying. "So this is not about you, it's about your sister."

"Yeah. I just want to protect her, and the best way I can do that is for the both of us to stay here in Jodie's care. I don't about what happens to me; I already know that I'll live a shitty life. But I don't want Dana to. So please, I'm _begging_ you, let us stay here. I can take care of myself and Dana."

"You're asking me to turn my head the other way, Alex."

"Please."

Mr. Conway looked down at Alex. It looked like he was having an internal conflict, and Alex didn't know which side was winning.


	9. Fallen Leaves

September had left as abruptly as the cold front that came after the CPS's visit. All that was left was a chilly October that was filled with frost, fall jackets, and changing leaves. The Mercer's usual shabby neighborhood had changed practically overnight into something that looked like a picture on a postcard with the mosaic color of Maple, Oak, and Elm leaves.

For most of the neighborhood, it was a beautiful sight that lifted their spirits after the loss of summer. For Alex though, it was just another burden he'd have to bare.

The CPS had decided, after a painful waiting process, to leave the Mercer family alone for awhile. When Alex picked up the phone and found out that it was Mr. Conway giving him the news he had wanted, he almost collapsed with relief. Mr. Conway would keep the CPS's snooping nose out of their family for as long as he could. And for that, Alex was eternally grateful. He and Dana had celebrated by going out for ice cream one last time before the weather got too cold.

Now it was Sunday, he had most of his homework already completed, and it was time to start the laborious process of raking the fallen leaves off of their yard. Alex was preparing for the day up in his bedroom. He cleaned off his glasses and then gently placed them back into place. Alex then headed to his closet for his grey hoodie. He tugged the article of clothing over his head before smoothing out his messy black hair. Now ready to spend hours raking, Alex left his room.

Jodie was in her room, actually not hungover for a change. Instead, she was smoking a cigarette while watching some junk TV show. She turned to look out her bedroom door when she heard Alex close his door. Their eyes met, and Jodie glowered for a second. They had gotten into another small fight only two days ago, and the woman was still simmering over it. She took another huff of her cigarette, and then blew out the sickening smoke towards Alex's direction.

It was a silent threat.

Alex ignored her and then went to Dana's room. His sister was playing with her doll house, muttering and chatting to herself. In actuality she looked like she was having fun, just like every girl should have the opportunity to. Dana hadn't noticed Alex's entrance, and that was fine for the teenager. He smiled softly and then closed her door, not wanting to disturb her.

After that, Alex hurried downstairs down to the kitchen, where he quickly raided the fridge for his leftover lunch. He grabbed onto the half of his old ham sandwich and bit into it ferociously as he headed out into the garage. Alex grabbed onto a rake hanging on the wall, still covered in old spider webs from last year, and went outside, slamming the garage door behind him.

Alex was met with cold, bitter fall weather as soon as he stepped outside. He let out a deep breath and watched as his breath turned visible. Alex pulled his grey hoodie closer to him before heading to the backyard, where most of the tree's leaves had fallen. Without further adieu, Alex started raking the fallen leaves into piles.

It was a slightly colder than a usual fall in October, and Alex was grateful that he was working to keep himself warm while doing his chores. While his cheeks felt slightly cold, the rest of his body felt cozy as he performed the continuous motion of raking leaves. The sound of the rake's metallic fingers against the ground kept Alex from thinking, and he was slightly satisfied for that in the long run. The sound kept his thoughts off of his previous fight with Jodie. But the pain in his left side was his reminder that Jodie still was powerful enough to hurt him.

Alex stopped raking for a second and set the rake against a tree's side. He felt his left side, feeling how it still felt sore and bruised. Alex brushed his fingertips against the hoodie's material, and felt his body reacting to the contact. He sucked in a silent, sharp breath and flinched from the initial touch, his body cringing away just slightly.

With a quick check at his surroundings to make sure no one was watching, Alex pulled up his hoodie, exposing the bruised side. The skin was a sick mixture of purple, yellow and dark blue that clashed with the pale, healthier skin on his torso's other side. The cold air felt nice on the bruised skin, and Alex let the breeze hit the exposed area for a couple minutes longer before pulling his shirt and hoodie down over it once again.

Jodie had been merciless during that fight. Alex had never seen his mother that intoxicated or that furious, or both, before. And he had no idea why she had been so infuriated at him. All that he could comprehend that night was waking up to his mother screaming at him, glaring down at his semi-unconscious form. He had been barely awake to stop his mother's attacks, and his only defense had been holding his hands in front of his face.

Alex sighed and shook his head to himself, silently hoping that the bruises would fade by the time school started next morning. But he knew that it would take at least a week for a bruise this bad to fade. Alex just hoped that they weren't doing anything that required him taking off his shirt for gym this week.

He picked up his rake again and quickly got back to work, trying to ignore the pain in his side.

He didn't know how long he spent raking in the backyard, but Alex soon found himself transitioning from the back into the front yard. There was considerably less leaves scattered around in the front, but Alex still had to pile them and bag them before garbage day tomorrow. It would be a quick job if Alex had any help, but since he was doing the work by himself, it was a long, uninteresting task.

With a grumble, Alex started raking leaves once again. After finally piling most of the leaves into a suitable group of piles, Alex set down the rake and grabbed a few black trash bags from the garage. Thus, Alex started the hard part of the chore and then struggled to get each pile fully into its designated trash bag. He stepped on one trash bag's open hole and held it open with one hand. With his other hand, he grabbed the rake and forced the bulk of the leaves into the trash bag. His brows furrowed as some of the leaves refused to be raked in, and he soon went over them a second and third time.

It had taken him a little longer than he had expected, but the first pile was bagged and already resting against the street's curb. Alex let out a breath of exhaustion before wiping his forehead, only to find the back of his hand was moist from his sweat. He quickly glanced at the yard, seeing that he still had a lot more piles to rake before the end of the day, and Alex let out a small, almost inaudible groan.

_"Only four more bags to go."_ Alex mentally told himself as he bent down to grab the rake on the ground. He dragged the tool behind him as he made his way to a pile. As he began to rake the pile, another thought popped into his head. _"It would be so much easier to just burn these."_

But of course, if Alex started to burn the leaves, then the fire department would surely be called and then involved. Alex shook that thought away with his head and continued to work, enjoying the feeling of a small trace of sweat forming on his brow. Alex focused on that and his breathing, and that seemed to make the work go by so much faster than it actually was.

About an hour later, Alex had successfully thrown five bags of fallen leaves on the road's curb. The trash man would pick it up with their trash next morning, and then it would finally be out of his hair. With this chore now down, he could focus on another one. Specifically, it looked like the upstairs bathroom badly needed a cleaning once again.

Alex was making his way back towards the garage when he heard a car pulling up. Alex paused in his steps and turned his head around. It was the same car from before, when he was fixing up the house with Dana. It had to be; the license plate match the numbers that Alex had managed to write down.

Then Alex made a rash decision. Dropping the rake, Alex stomped towards the car. Who had been watching him and Dana? It had been bugging him ever since he saw the car stop in front of their shabby house. He was very determined to get some answers out of whoever it was.

Fortunately this time the driver didn't decide pull away from him. Rather they unrolled the window, revealing that it was Mr. Renner. That threw Alex in a loop, and his stepping fell out of place for a short second before continuing his confident, angry stride towards the car.

"Mr. Renning? What are you doing here?" Alex asked, sounding much more irritated than he should have been at one of his teachers. "Couldn't I call the cops on you and have you arrested?"

"There's no need for that, Alex. I was only curious about you." Mr. Renning reassured Alex in that soft voice of his. The teacher turned away from Alex and opened the side door of his car. He looked back at Alex and smiled. "Please, join me. I'd like to talk to you in a more comfortable setting. Have you had lunch yet?"

Alex didn't move. He wasn't a genius, but he was sure as hell smart enough not to get in some dude's car. Rather, Alex crossed his arms in an almost child-like way and shook his head, only needing to fix his glasses afterwards. Mr. Renner noticed Alex's persistence and frowned slightly before continuing.

"This is about your grades, Alex. Please. I only wish to help you." Mr. Renner stated with a firmer tone of voice. "You are one of my students after all."

Alex sighed and decided to get into his teacher's car, despite his better judgment advising him to get in the house and start scrubbing the bathroom clean. With the roll of his eyes Alex walked around the car to the passenger side and climbed in. Alex closed the door behind him and looked at Mr. Renner expectantly. Mr. Renner only looked at him, waiting for the youth to put on his seatbelt on. A small roll of the eyes later, and Alex was buckled in.

Mr. Renner smiled and put the small car in drive. He headed down the street, taking an immediately left back into downtown White Planes. Alex rode in silence for a few minutes before finally speaking up.

"Where are you taking me?" Alex asked.

"We are going to one of my favorite diners, _Angela's_. They have the best sandwiches in the Tri-state area." Mr. Renner said, speaking as if Alex was an old friend instead of a student that he just picked up on the side of the road. "Although I highly recommend their soup, too."

Alex nodded, not really paying attention after he mentioned food at a diner. He noticed that Mr. Renner continued talking without realizing that Alex had stopped listening early on. The youth focused most of his attention on the world passing by them. Alex knew where they were heading, he just wanted to know how long it would take him to walk home after this little meeting of his.

No more than ten minutes passed and Mr. Renner was parking the car. Alex waited in silence, waiting for the car to shut off before taking off his seatbelt and leaving the car. Alex slammed the door and walked the short distance to the diner that his science teacher mentioned. The two walked in, and Mr. Renner pointed to an empty booth in the back of the old style diner. Alex walked to the booth, hand in his hoodie's pockets and shoulders hunched.

Alex sat down, and Mr. Renner took the opposite seat. They sat there for a long second, waiting in silence for someone to talk first. Thankfully a waitress came forward to break the silence.

"Hello, my name is Christie, what would you like to drink today?" The waitress, Christie, asked as she pulled out a small pad and pen.

"Water is just fine, thank you Christie." Mr. Renner said pleseantly.

Alex paused for a second to think before answering. "Can I get a Pepsi?"

Christie wrote down the drinks, nodding her head as she did so. She soon walked away to get the two men their drinks, leaving the two again in silence. Alex grew fidgety, and Mr. Renner could tell. To begin their conversation, Mr. Renner let out a small cough.

"So what am I here for exactly?" Alex beat his teacher to the chase. He frowned, mashing up his black eyebrows together under his thick glasses. It was definitely clear that Alex was not happy at the moment. "Other than a free meal, of course."

Mr. Renner frowned slightly. "I will gladly pay for your meal, Alex. But we are here, most importantly to talk about you. Not just your grades, Alex. But you."

Alex sighed and motioned for his science teacher to begin.

"Your grades are slipping, Alex. And while that concerns me Alex, it isn't the cause of why I asked you to join me for a meal. What concerns me is when you do try in my class, is that you excel thoroughly. But that is rare." Mr. Renner began. "I want to talk about your performance in my sophomore class."

"Why does it matter to you?" Alex pointed out. "Usually teachers don't give a crap about my grades. They just want to pass me and get me out of their class."

"That is something that I disagree with my co-workers about. I feel like every student of mine should work to their full potential. And you have shown me that you have much more potential than you are letting on." Mr. Renner pressed on, trying to get through Alex. But Alex was not listening. "If you work hard, you could surely pass my class with a solid A. Even if you were in my advanced class. You would do amazing in that class."

Alex raised a thick eyebrow at this. It sounded to him like Mr. Renner was not only trying to inspire him to work harder, but pushing him up into an advance class. That meant more work time and more homework.

"I do not want to be in an advanced class, Mr. Renner. I have enough problems as it is." Alex stated.

At this time, Christie came back with their drinks. Alex was quick to take his soda, and he started sipping the beverage down, feeling it flow down his throat. Mr. Renner sighed impatiently before taking a quick drink out of his cold water. Christie waited patiently for the two to order their main meal, pen and pad already in hand.

"And what would you like to eat today?" Christie asked in an overly cheery voice.

"I'll take the Tomato soup, please. With extra crackers on the side." Mr. Renner said.

"Um . . ." Alex looked to the chalkboard perpendicular to where the he was sitting and read the list of sandwiches offered. "I have a Corned Beef Reuben sandwich."

Christie nodded and headed back, looking slightly disappointed that the two handed ordered more food, equaling a larger tip. Alex watched her silently before returning his cold gaze to his teacher.

"I also want to talk about your life at home, Alex. Is everything alr—"

"Everything is perfect at my home." Alex answered shortly, cutting his teacher off with a sharp tone of voice. Alex's glared intensified, giving his teacher a little setback in whatever plan of attack he had. "You don't have any business with me or my family, Mr. Renner"

It was safe to say that Mr. Renner wasn't convinced. "If you say so, Alex. But remember that I'm here for you if you ever need any help with anything."

That seemed to strike a chord within Alex. He no longer had any patience for his teacher, and he stood up abruptly. He didn't need to take any crap from this old coot any longer.

"So you invite me to lunch to talk about my personal life, thinking that I have a problem at home. Then you start talking about my grades. That I can understand, but couldn't that wait until Monday when we get back to school?!" Alex said, almost exploding with anger. "And even with my grades low, but still within passing, you offer me a place in your advanced class."

"Calm down, Alex. There is no need to shout." Mr. Renner said as he grabbed Alex's shoulder. This of course, caused Alex to let out a small groan of pain, as that had been an area where Jodie had beaten him. Mr. Renner immediately let go of Alex, and a concerned look was plastered onto his face. "What is it, Alex. Are you hurt?"

"It's nothing." Alex snapped, taking a few steps away from his science teacher. "I'm sorry I can't stay to eat, but I have to get ready for work. Is there anything else you wanted?"

Mr. Renner just sighed. "Just . . . think of my offer about the advance class. It's still early enough in the year to switch. But I must know by next Friday. Think about it, please."

Alex just shook his head and left. He slammed the diner's door behind him and headed towards the direction of his neighborhood. Alex pulled his hood over his head slumped as he avoided Mr. Renner's gaze from within the diner. But that didn't mean that Alex didn't feel it as he walked down the street.


End file.
